Based on a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist 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 local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
