According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, 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 report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
