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Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take 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 drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Trends and Projections

A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Funding Gaps

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said 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 communities.”

A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.