According to a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
