Based on a new study of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several 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 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
