According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
