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According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals

One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

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

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.

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

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He continued: “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 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” said the study.

“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

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

One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.