Based on a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist 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 regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
