Based on a recent survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
