Based on a latest survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, 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 revealed.
