Based on a recent survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included 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 held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without 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 communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
