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According to a latest 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 balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts

Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.

“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.