Crap Towns / West Sussex / Horsham
Horsham
34/100Crap Score
Locals call it the Sham.
647th crappest of 984 towns, and 13th in West 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
Got something to say about Horsham? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
They fed a plastic swan
Nice market town, no nightlife, and residents caught feeding decoy swans.
Horsham's a perfectly nice market town with a bandstand, the Hornets, and fans who call themselves the Lardy Army and post bars of lard to other clubs. Locals have been seen feeding plastic swans. No nightlife, so it's Brighton, which means changing at Three Bridges. Cyclists ride through the shops. And Crawley's next door.
It's got 22 public toilets, nearly three times the typical town's per head, and 36 hairdressers. A trim and a wee is about the size of a big night out in Horsham.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Horsham's 81 for broadband means it's crapper than 81% of towns.
- Broadband81/1009.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 23.7% across the Horsham council area
- Anti-social behaviour56/10016.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions54/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution48/1007.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills40/100173 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Fly-tipping39/1009.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Horsham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain32/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson30/1005.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene22/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 214 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires16/100
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | East Grinstead | 45 |
| 10 | Worthing | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.11 | Haywards Heath | 37 |
| 12 | Burgess Hill | 36 |
| 13 | Horsham | 34 |
| 14 | Lancing and Sompting | 30 |
| 15 | Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint | 26 |
| 16 | Selsey | 16 |
| 17 | Rustington | 15 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Horsham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 62.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 19% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 33 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.6 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 21 pubs, 36 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 7 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 21) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 2.0 per 100,000 people, 41% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 22 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.4 per 10,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.24am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 37% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,670 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 9% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Horsham council
- £2,441 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £49 more than the English average
- 19% of West Sussex County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Horsham 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.