According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without 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 communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
