Based on a latest study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England 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.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
