Based on a new study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
