According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
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 municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase 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 extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
