According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
