According to a recent study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
