Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Fence Houses
Fence Houses
67/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 67. 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
Fence Houses. Not our problem, mate.
The main street is split between Sunderland and Durham. Nobody wants the fly-tipping.
Fence Houses has a council boundary running down the main street, so every problem is somebody else's. The fly-tipping piles up, the sewage goes in the burn and the buses have mostly given up. What's left is a bookies, lads on off-road bikes and cars going far too fast through the village. The railway line's still there. The trains aren't.
There's 0.1 square metres of park each, and the only shop on the map is the bookie. The local yobs set fire to things at over six times the typical town's rate, and the overflows nearby run for nearly six times as long as the typical town's. Sunderland's council tax is cheap, to be fair. You get what you pay for.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Fence Houses's 95 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 95% of towns.
- Fly-tipping95/10035.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Sunderland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires94/10035.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills91/1001,598 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson68/1008.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain43/100125 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour40/10013.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions37/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene33/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 23 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution30/1007.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband19/1003.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.3% across the Sunderland council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Jarrow | 82 |
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
| 10 | Houghton-le-Spring | 73 |
| 11 | Birtley | 69 |
| – | Fence Houses | 67 |
| 12 | Longbenton | 61 |
| 13 | Washington | 57 |
| 14 | Whickham | 53 |
| 15 | Killingworth | 50 |
Fence Houses by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 65.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 14% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.3 per 10,000 people, 4.8x the typical town's 0.9
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.22am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 27.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,525 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Sunderland council
Have a crap-off
Fence Houses 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.