Based on a new survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated 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.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal 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 increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, 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 children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase 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 Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £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 policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
