South East · Non-metropolitan district

Adur

2026/27 view

Adur · ONS E07000223

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

15/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 158 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover23

Debt burden3

Liquidity4

Debt direction37

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £172.50m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

−£1.74m 1.0%

Service expenditure £12.08m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£183.0k 1.5%

Unallocated reserves £1.10m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£49.0k 4.7%

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25

Service expenditure £12.08m

23.3%

Net revenue expenditure £10.12m

10.4%

Council Tax requirement £7.94m

14.3%

Unallocated reserves £1.10m

15.7%

COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published

Score this council

Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified

Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified

Resident population64,8892024 estimate

Latest net debt£172.50m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Adur, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25

41.6%recycled

Household recycling rate

More waste recycled

1.1 percentage points vs 2023/24

105 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste386.8 kgper household+20.6 kg year on year

Waste collected295.2 kgper resident+20.3 kg year on year

Household waste19,181tonnes collected7,971 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

7,971 t recycled, composted or reused 11,210 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

41.6%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Adur.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

20 Open schools

8,837 Pupils

9,623 School places

91.8% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Adur.

Attainment 8

47.1

South East 47.0

England 46.1

1.0 points above England

English & maths grade 5+

49.3%

South East 47.9%

England 45.4%

3.9 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

54.2%

South East 41.6%

England 40.5%

13.7 percentage points above England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.10

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

47.5 18/19

50.1 19/20

51.2 20/21

50.9 21/22

46.8 22/23

46.7 23/24

47.1 24/25

Education context

Adur's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are above both South East and England benchmarks across all three headline measures.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Adur, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£375,000

+ 19.0% over five years

Median resident earnings

£39,029

+ 29.0% over five years

House price to earnings

9.61×

Improved from 10.41× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Adur.

£1,399 / month

+ 3.0% in the last year

July 2026

Adur

£1,399

+ 3.0%

South East

£1,419

+ 2.9%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South East £20 less per month

Compared with England £52 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Adur

9.61×

South East

9.20×

England

7.64×

Compared with South East Less affordable

Compared with England Less affordable

Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings

PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1

Applications received89this quarter+4 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided69this quarter0 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

94.2%approved

Overall approval rate65 granted4 refused+1.5 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

97.1%

Rank 58 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.5 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major0—— Minor1291.7%91.7% Other5794.7%98.3%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

48%

Required1,095homes over three years

Delivered526homes over three years

100% requirement

Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Adur, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 3,580 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 55.2 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 14.3% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Adur Your council

55.2 − 14.3%

South East Region

70.5 − 2.7%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Adur has a recorded crime rate 21.7% below South East. It is 33.9% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Sussex

Violence 1,297

20.0 per 1,000 − 7.1%

Theft 1,182

18.2 per 1,000 − 20.5%

Public order 310

4.8 per 1,000 − 16.9%

Criminal damage 321

4.9 per 1,000 − 24.8%

Shoplifting 605

9.3 per 1,000 − 26.8%

Vehicle offences 160

2.5 per 1,000 − 3.6%

Burglary 110

1.7 per 1,000 − 27.6%

Drug offences 94

1.4 per 1,000 − 18.3%

ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data

SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Adur.

20 schools

Open schools 20

Pupils 8,837

School places 9,623

Capacity used 91.8%

Primary 12 schools

4,383 pupils

Other / specialist 5 schools

1,129 pupils

Secondary 2 schools

3,186 pupils

Nursery 1 school

139 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 2

10.0% of open schools

Previous full framework 7

35.0% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 7

35.0% of open schools

No Ofsted record 4

20.0% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

2 schools assessed

Achievement 2 assessed

Expected standard 2

Attendance & behaviour 2 assessed

Strong standard 2

Curriculum & teaching 2 assessed

Expected standard 2

Inclusion 2 assessed

Strong standard 2

Leadership & governance 2 assessed

Expected standard 1

Strong standard 1

Personal development 2 assessed

Strong standard 2

Safeguarding 2 assessed

Met 2

PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Outstanding 1

Good 4

Not judged 2

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Buckingham Park Primary School URN 134791 · BN43 5UD	Primary	442	610	Ungraded inspection
Eastbrook Primary Academy URN 139674 · BN42 4NF	Primary	364	420	Not judged
Glebe Primary School URN 150066 · BN42 4GB	Primary	453	600	Good
Holmbush Primary Academy URN 141906 · BN43 6TN	Primary	222	226	Ungraded inspection
North Lancing Primary School URN 125841 · BN15 0PT	Primary	407	420	Good
Seaside Primary School URN 143387 · BN15 8DL	Primary	620	630	Not judged
Shoreham Beach Primary School URN 125885 · BN43 5RH	Primary	209	210	Ungraded inspection
Sompting Village Primary School URN 134896 · BN15 0BU	Primary	362	420	Good

School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.

Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported

Revenue budget£0.00Not imported

Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn

Contracts00 active

Identified suppliers0Normalised entities

PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile

Population 64,889 2024

South East region 9,642,942

Five-year population change

+309 residents ↑ 0.5%

Adur +0.5%

South East +4.9%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Adur's population grew over five years. Its change was 4.4 percentage points below the South East and 3.8 percentage points below England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates

Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile

BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Adur?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 6,532 10.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +11.2% +660 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.7% +44 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Adur LOCAL AUTHORITY

10.1%

South East REGION

9.5%

England COUNTRY

12.3%

Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.

24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026

6,532 5,802 5,071

June 2024 May 2026

What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore

HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer

Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted

Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions

Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet

Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn

Total service expenditure

£12.08m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£10.12m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£7.94m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£1.10m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £186

Median for councils of the same type £166 12.4% above peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Central services Gross £6.27m · Income £2.39m

£3.88m

Housing Gross £4.69m · Income £1.90m

£2.79m

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £4.82m · Income £2.24m

£2.58m

Planning and development Gross £3.76m · Income £1.64m

£2.12m

Culture and related services Gross £2.23m · Income £1.33m

£901.0k

Highways and transport Gross £492.0k · Income £686.0k

£-194.0k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£7.94m

Retained business rates£2.99m

Revenue Support Grant£79.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.05m

Closing £1.10m

£49.0k increase during 2024/25

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset

BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return

Outstanding borrowing

£179.27m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£6.78m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£172.50m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£2,658 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £2,658

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 2,691.9% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£1.74m quarterly reduction

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement −£1.74m −1.0%

Change across the series +£32.69m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£136.33m

Other longer-term borrowing£42.94m

MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset

COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26

Outstanding arrears

£7.28m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

95.98% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£0 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£52.05m Receipts relating to the financial year

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£7.28m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.23m

30.6% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £5.05m

69.4% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26

In-year collection rate 95.98%

England average: 95.60% · 0.38 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records

CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Adur	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Adur	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Adur	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Adur District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Adur	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Adur	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.