According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase 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.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
