Living in Hayling Island
Figures last changed 2 November 2026. House prices for Hayling Island are on the main Hayling Island page.
What stands out in Hayling Island: older than most of England, with 37% of people 65 or over, against 18%.
- Residents
- 17,392
- at the 2021 Census
- Median age
- 57
- England 40
- Band D council tax
- £2,320
- 2026 to 2027
- Crimes per 1,000
- 60
- against 78 across the district
Hayling Island population: who lives there
About 17,400 people lived in Hayling Island at the 2021 Census, in about 8,200 households, and they were older than most of England: 37% were 65 or over, against 18% in England.
| Hayling Island | Havant borough | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| People aged 65 or over | 37% | 24% | 18% |
| Median age | 57 | 46 | 40 |
| Homes owned outright | 53% | 39% | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 24% | 29% | 29% |
| Shared ownership | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Rented privately | 15% | 12% | 20% |
| Rented from a council or housing association | 8% | 19% | 17% |
| Living rent free | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| One person living alone | 33% | 30% | 30% |
Most of those living alone were 66 or over. Rents are published only for whole council areas: across Havant borough, private rents averaged £1,159 a month in September 2026, up 4.1% on a year, against £1,466 in England.
The age rows are about people, the rest about households. Census output areas can take in a few homes just outside Hayling Island.
Source: Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents.
Hayling Island council tax
A Band D home in Hayling Island is charged £2,320 in council tax for 2026 to 2027: Hayling Island has no parish council, so its bill is the same as the rest of Havant borough.
| Goes to | A year |
|---|---|
| Hampshire County Council | £1,690 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner | £290 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority | £93 |
| Havant Borough Council | £247 |
| Band D bill | £2,320 |
The other bands are fixed shares of Band D: Band A is £1,547, Band C £2,062, Band E £2,836 and Band H, the highest, £4,641.
These are full bills before discounts: one adult living alone gets 25% off. A home's band is on the Valuation Office Agency's register.
Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England (MHCLG), Table 10.
Is Hayling Island safe? Crime
By police figures, safer than Havant borough as a whole: police recorded 1,049 crimes in and around Hayling Island between September 2025 and August 2026, about 60 for every 1,000 residents, against 78 across Havant borough.
| Reports | |
|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 551 |
| Other theft | 98 |
| Public order offences | 94 |
| Anti-social behaviour, counted apart because it is not a crime | 135 |
Violence and sexual offences include threats, harassment and stalking, not only assaults. Rates are a guide: crimes against visitors and passing traffic count, but only residents are in the rate.
Source: Police recorded crime and anti-social behaviour (data.police.uk) · Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis).
How noisy is Hayling Island, and how clean is the air?
Quiet away from the main roads, on the government's noise maps: 139 of Hayling Island's 472 postcodes (29%) 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 air is within the legal limits and the WHO's guideline for nitrogen dioxide, though not its tighter one for fine particles.
| Hayling Island | WHO guideline | |
|---|---|---|
| Road noise at the middle postcode, decibels | 49 | 53 |
| Road noise at the loudest postcode, decibels | 70 | 53 |
| Nitrogen dioxide, 2026, micrograms per cubic metre | 8 | 10 |
| Fine particles (PM2.5), 2026, micrograms per cubic metre | 6 | 5 |
No postcode is close enough to a railway to register on the rail noise map. The legal limits are 40 for nitrogen dioxide and 20 for fine particles.
Noise is modelled at each postcode's centre, and the air figures are background levels, higher beside busy roads.
Source: Defra strategic noise maps, Round 4 (2022), road and rail · Defra background air pollution maps (2021 base year).
Living there in nearby places
- Havant: more recorded crime than Havant borough as a whole, about 150 a year for every 1,000 residents, against 78
- Southbourne: older than most of England, with 30% of people 65 or over, against 18%
- Emsworth: older than most of England, with 33% of people 65 or over, against 18%
- West Wittering: older than most of England, with 40% of people 65 or over, against 18%
Figures cover 472 postcodes in Hayling Island. How these figures are made.