Living in Birdham
Figures last changed 22 October 2026. House prices for Birdham are on the main Birdham page.
On this page: Who lives in Birdham? · How much is council tax in Birdham? · Is Birdham safe? · How noisy is Birdham, and how clean is the air?
Who lives in Birdham?
About 1,680 people lived in Birdham at the 2021 Census, in about 760 households, and they were older than most of England: 30% were 65 or over, against 27% across Chichester district and 18% in England. The median age was about 54, against 49 across the area and 40 in England. Of its households, 49% owned their home outright and 27% with a mortgage; 15% rented privately, against 18% across the area, and 9% rented from a council or housing association. 27% were one person living alone, most of them aged 66 or over. Rents are published only for whole council areas: across Chichester district, private rents averaged £1,333 a month in August 2026, up 2.9% on a year, on the ONS private rents index, against £1,459 in England. The census figures cover the five census output areas that hold Birdham's postcodes, so at the edges they can take in a few homes just outside it.
Source: Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents.
How much is council tax in Birdham?
A Band D home in Birdham is charged £2,459 in council tax for 2026 to 2027, against an average of £2,470 across Chichester district. Of that, West Sussex County Council takes £1,890, the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner £282, Chichester District Council £198 and Birdham Parish Council £89. The other bands are fixed shares of Band D: Band A is £1,639, Band C £2,186, Band E £3,005 and Band H, the highest, £4,918. These are full bills before discounts: someone living alone gets 25% off. A home's band is on the Valuation Office Agency's register, and the council's own bill may differ by a few pence.
Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England (MHCLG), Table 10 · Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils in England (MHCLG).
Is Birdham safe?
By police figures, safer than Chichester district as a whole: police recorded 74 crimes in and around Birdham between September 2025 and August 2026, about 44 for every 1,000 residents, against 64 across Chichester district. The most common were violence and sexual offences (25), criminal damage and arson (20) and public order offences (8). In police figures that heading includes threats, harassment and stalking, not only assaults. There were also 29 reports of anti-social behaviour, which is counted separately because it is not a crime. Police place each incident at an anonymous point nearby, so ones near the edge can land on either side, and visitors and passing traffic count in the crimes but not in the residents, which pushes the rate up in town centres and along main roads.
Source: Police recorded crime and anti-social behaviour (data.police.uk) · Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis).
How noisy is Birdham, and how clean is the air?
Quiet away from the main roads, on the government's noise maps: 18 of Birdham's 58 postcodes (31%) have road noise at their centre point above the World Health Organization's guideline of 53 decibels, a day and night average that weights the evening and night up. The middle postcode sits at about 51 decibels and the loudest at 68. No postcode is close enough to a railway to register on the rail noise map. The air is within the legal limits and the WHO's guideline for nitrogen dioxide, though not its tighter one for fine particles: Defra's background maps put nitrogen dioxide at about 7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2026 across Birdham's nine one-kilometre squares, against a legal limit of 40 and a WHO guideline of 10, and fine particles (PM2.5) at about 6, against a legal limit of 20 and a WHO guideline of 5. Noise is modelled for 2022, 4 metres above the ground, so a house set back from the road can be quieter. The pollution figures are background levels away from the kerb, projected from 2021; beside a busy road they are higher.
Source: Defra strategic noise maps, Round 4 (2022), road and rail · Defra background air pollution maps (2021 base year).
Figures cover 58 postcodes in Birdham. How these figures are made.