Based on a latest study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
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 need to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
