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According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

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

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

Research of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.

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

“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.

“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.