According to a recent survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
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, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
