According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling public land and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
