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According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures

This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.

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

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, 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 survey found.