Based on a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover 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 argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures 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.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
