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Based on a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals

One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.

Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

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 adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.

“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.

“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.