According to a recent study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities 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 study.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“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,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
