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According to a latest poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

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

This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver 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 central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.

A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Funding Gaps

According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.

“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.

“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.