Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring
73/100Crap Score
268th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Tyne and Wear. 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
Say it however.
A big fair, a giant miner's helmet and Newbottle Street wall to wall with takeaways.
Houghton's got a famous Feast, a road cut through a hill and a giant miner's helmet on the old pit site. Newbottle Street is takeaway, takeaway, takeaway. Nobody can agree how to say the name. Everyone agrees on the rest.
The firebugs are busy, at nearly eleven times the typical town's rate, and the bins go up at about twenty times. The storm overflows nearby go off for five and a half times the typical town's hours, and Sunderland's fly-tipping is over three times the typical council's. Funny thing is, none of the takeaways scores 0 to 2. Newbottle Street is the best-run bit of Houghton.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Houghton-le-Spring's 99 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Deliberate fires99/10061.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping95/10035.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Sunderland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson90/10011.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills90/1001,530 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour80/10021.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain41/100124 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution37/1008.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband28/1005.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.3% across the Sunderland council area
- Food hygiene14/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 64 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions13/1001.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Tynemouth | 89 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 87 |
| 8 | Jarrow | 82 |
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
| 10 | Houghton-le-Spring | 73 |
| 11 | Birtley | 69 |
| 12 | Longbenton | 61 |
| 13 | Washington | 57 |
| 14 | Whickham | 53 |
Houghton-le-Spring by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 93.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 23% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 11) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 8.0 per 100,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 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
- 12.24am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 52% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,529 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
Houghton-le-Spring 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.