According to a new survey of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises 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 require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
