Crap Towns / East Sussex / Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove
51/100Crap Score
478th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in East Sussex. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Brighton. Hove would like a word.
Piers, pebbles, gulls and rent that makes Londoners feel right at home. Hove is the posh end.
Brighton has a palace covered in onion domes, a pier, a burnt-out pier and a beach made of bloody stones. The rent's a piss-take, parking costs a fortune and the gulls rip every bin open. It's got more anti-social behaviour and road crashes than most places its size. Call any of it Brighton and someone from Hove will correct you.
Anything not chained down goes. Bikes get nicked at over three times the typical town's rate and pickpocketing runs at over four times. There are 15 places on the Heritage at Risk register, 5 of them whole conservation areas. At least you can get home after: the buses run all night.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Brighton and Hove's 98 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Serious road collisions98/1005.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour81/10022.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband78/10013.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.3% across the Brighton and Hove council area
- Criminal damage and arson61/1007.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution57/1009.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires38/1005.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping30/1006.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Brighton and Hove council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain25/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills13/10014.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Food hygiene7/1001.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 2,462 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Newhaven | 75 |
| 3 | Lewes | 70 |
| 4 | Eastbourne | 66 |
| 5 | Bexhill-on-Sea | 54 |
| 6 | Brighton and Hove | 51 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Hailsham | 35 |
| 8 | Peacehaven | 30 |
| 9 | Polegate | 23 |
| 10 | Uckfield | 18 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Brighton and Hove by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 104 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 36% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 190 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.9 per 10,000 people, 7.7x the typical town's 0.9
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 5 of 6 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 219 pubs, 214 hairdressers, 50 charity shops, 21 bookmakers, 30 vape shops, 18 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.8% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 223) Better: 55% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.5 per 100,000 people, 26% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Mile Oak Library (2023)
- 107 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.9 per 10,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 1.6
- 16 public swimming pools open; 6 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 15 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 25.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,752 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 14% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Brighton and Hove council
- £2,581 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £189 more than the English average
- 8% of Brighton and Hove council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 23 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Brighton and Hove against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.