According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals 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 creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
