Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets 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 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
