According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
