Living in Westbourne
Figures last changed 20 October 2026. House prices for Westbourne are on the main Westbourne page.
On this page: Who lives in Westbourne? · How much is council tax in Westbourne? · Is Westbourne safe? · How noisy is Westbourne, and how clean is the air?
Who lives in Westbourne?
About 2,390 people lived in Westbourne at the 2021 Census, in about 1,060 households, and they were older than most of England: 24% were 65 or over, against 27% across Chichester district and 18% in England. The median age was about 48, against 49 across the area and 40 in England. Of its households, 40% owned their home outright and 29% with a mortgage; 15% rented privately, against 18% across the area, and 16% rented from a council or housing association. 30% were one person living alone, about half 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 seven census output areas that hold Westbourne'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 Westbourne?
A Band D home in Westbourne is charged £2,524 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 Westbourne Parish Council £154. The other bands are fixed shares of Band D: Band A is £1,683, Band C £2,243, Band E £3,085 and Band H, the highest, £5,048. 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 Westbourne safe?
By police figures, safer than Chichester district as a whole: police recorded 76 crimes in and around Westbourne between September 2025 and August 2026, about 32 for every 1,000 residents, against 64 across Chichester district. The most common were violence and sexual offences (30), criminal damage and arson (17) and vehicle crime (8). In police figures that heading includes threats, harassment and stalking, not only assaults. There were also 32 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 Westbourne, and how clean is the air?
Quiet away from the main roads, on the government's noise maps: 37 of Westbourne's 91 postcodes (41%) 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 52 decibels and the loudest at 64. 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 9 micrograms per cubic metre in 2026 across Westbourne's six one-kilometre squares, against a legal limit of 40 and a WHO guideline of 10, and fine particles (PM2.5) at about 7, 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 91 postcodes in Westbourne. How these figures are made.