🔗 Share this article

According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal 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 owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.

Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.

The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Trends and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.