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According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains

This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Trends and Projections

A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

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

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the latest deprivation indices,” noted the study.

“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.