According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds 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 also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
