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

Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating 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 support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed 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 holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority said 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 adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing 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 planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.

Deprivation and Funding Gaps

According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.