🔗 Share this article

According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains

This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist 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 Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Gaps

Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.

“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.