According to a recent poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties 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 shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils 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 local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
