Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived 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 top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
