According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
