Residents' Survey 2025

We are committed to listening, learning and improving, and a key part of this is understanding how people across Horsham District feel about their local area and the services we provide.

To do this, we carried out an independent public opinion survey in 2025.Residents from a balanced representative selection of 5,000 households from across the district were invited to take part by post or online, and more than 600 people responded, giving us a reliable and representative picture of local views.

How residents feel about the district

Most people who took part told us they continue to enjoy living in the Horsham District.
83% said they are satisfied with their local area as a place to live, and many described strong feelings of belonging and pride in their neighbourhoods.

Residents also highlighted several services where satisfaction remains high, including:

Arts, culture and heritage facilities (91% among users)
Parks, playgrounds and green spaces (82%)
Sports and leisure facilities (78%)

These results reflect the value residents place on the district’s green spaces, cultural offer and leisure opportunities.

Where you want to see more action

The survey also showed clear areas where residents feel improvement is needed. These include:

Taking practical steps on carbon reduction
Preventing homelessness and supporting vulnerable residents
Better demonstration of value for money
Enhancing feelings of safety in public spaces and particulary after dark
Raising awareness of how to get involved in council decision-making

We also heard that some people would like faster response times and clearer information about the work the Council is doing.

How we are responding

We are committed to acting on what residents have told us. Based on the findings, we will be:

Making it easier for residents to take part in consultations and see how their views influence decisions.
Increasing transparency on value for money, including how your council tax is spent and how services are performing.
Promoting improvements to recycling and waste services, including the introduction of food waste collections.
Running sustainability campaigns to highlight the carbon-reduction projects already under way.
Sharing more information about homelessness prevention and support, including local successes case studies.
Highlighting community safety work, such as Neighbourhood Wardens, licensing, and the Community Safety Partnership.
Expanding and promoting digital access, including the Cloud 9 app for bin calendars, council tax and service information.

These actions form part of our ongoing commitment to delivering the Annual Plan and to responding openly to the issues residents raise.

To help bring the findings to life, we’ve included a series of clear charts and graphics from the Residents’ Survey presentation. These visuals show the key results at a glance — including what people value most, where views have changed since 2022, and the areas residents would like us to focus on. You can explore these below.

Image gallery

A bar chart showing a third of residents, 32%, agree Horsham District Council provides value for money and a similar number, 33%, disagree

A third of residents agree Horsham District Council provides value for money, however a similar number disagree

A pie chart showing that 58% of survey respondents suggest the share of council tax Horsham District Council receives is less than they expected, 33% about the same, and 9% thought it was more than they expected

Over half of residents suggest the share of council tax Horsham District Council receives towards services is less than they expected

A chart showing that 42% of respondents value local representation a great deal or a fair amount, and 35% value it not very much or not at all

Opinions of the value of local representation are polarised, whilst almost a quarter of respondents suggest they don't know how much they value it

A chart showing 41% suggest the Council acts on residents' concerns a great deal or a fair amount, and 40% suggest not very much or not at all

Results are polarised on whether Horsham District Council acts on residents' concerns

A chart showing 33% of residents speak positively about the Council and 21% speak negatively

A third of residents would speak positively about Horsham District Council

A bar chart showing 63% of respondents chose waste and recycling as their most-valued service. To the lower end, 6% chose help with home repairs for elderly and disabled residents as their most valued service

The services most valued by residents are recycling and waste, and parks playgrounds and open spaces

A chart comparing service usage in 2025 with 2022 that shows that car parks are the most widely used service followed by parks, playground and open spaces. Usage of arts, culture and heritage spaces is up 12% since 2022

Car parks and on-street parking are the services most widely used, with 86% of respondents having used them

A bar chart showing that 85% of residents are satisfied with the local area

Horsham District Council residents are satisfied with the local area as a place to live

Feelings of safety have declined, especially after dark

Two pie charts that suggest feelings of belonging to your local area and pulling together to improve the local area have dropped 5% since 2022

Community cohesion has reduced with fewer residents suggesting they feel they belong or that local people pull together

Image gallery

Around half of residents feel informed, whilst the majority know how and where to vote

A chart showing that 54% of residents feel informed

A chart to show that 68% of residents have paid council tax online in the last 12 months, 46% have sourced information about local services online and 35% have looked online to find out about planning applications

Contact with the Council tends to be done online, with finding out about bin collection days and paying Council Tax most common

A pie chart showing that 79% of respondents have used the Council website and a chart showing the vast majority of respondents find it easy to use, well designed and useful

Four fifths of residents have used the Horsham District Council website and the majority found it useful

Charts to show that 92% of respondents look for information about Council services online and similar numbers are willing to report, apply for and complain online

Most Horsham District residents are willing to use online services

A chart to show 60% of respondents were satisfied with the way Horsham District Council run things

Three fifths of residents are satisfied with the way Horsham District Council run things