According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among 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,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
