According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income 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 coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures 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
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £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 policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
