Crap Towns / Devon / Honiton
Honiton
37/100Crap Score
623rd crappest of 984 towns, and 9th in Devon. 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
Got something to say about Honiton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
They throw money at you.
Every summer they chuck hot pennies out of upstairs windows. That's the excitement.
Honiton does lace, antiques, and a fair where they stick a glove on a pole and chuck hot pennies out of upstairs windows at people. That's a good day.
The rest of the time it's bookies, hairdressers and banks leaving, with 5 branch closures announced, over 12 times the typical town's rate. Sewage goes in the water for over 14 times the typical town's hours, and the kitchens are dodgier than most. Lace on top. Shit underneath.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Honiton's 99 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Sewage spills99/1003,930 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene77/1005.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 73 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband67/1004.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.8% across the East Devon council area
- Rain66/100138 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires56/1006.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions45/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson29/1005.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour13/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution12/1004.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping1/1002.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Honiton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 52.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 31% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 About the same: 3.3 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 15 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 10) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 41.1 per 100,000 people, 12.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.50pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 5.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 65% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,564 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
East Devon council
Have a crap-off
Honiton 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.