According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead 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 taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“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.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
