Deprivation in Hastings & why it is increasing

"28,500 people in Hastings live within the most deprived (top 10%) neighbourhood areas of England."

The latest wave indices of Deprivation was released at the end of October, and it reported that Hastings is now the 14th most deprived local authority in the country. This is a decline from 5 years ago, when the town was the 16th most deprived local authority.

This dataset outlines the level of deprivation in an area relative to the rest of England. England is divided into over 33,000 neighbourhood areas, with these areas being established by dividing each council ward into three. The overall level of deprivation is calculated by taking a combination of factors into account, including income, employment, education, health, local living environment and access to housing and services. The lower an area’s score, the more deprived it is assessed to be relative to the rest of the country.

Overall Deprivation:

On average, the most deprived council ward is Central St Leonards, closely followed by Hollington. Castle, Gensing, Baird, Tressell & Wishing Tree also score poorly, indicating pockets of high deprivation. The wards of Conquest and St Helens were the only two wards that scored above the English average, indicating these areas contain a notable amount of affluence. Ashdown also scored well.

Out of the 53 local neighbourhood areas, 34% reside within the most deprived decile (bottom 10%) areas within England. Delving further into the data, there are 9 areas that fit within the top 3% of most deprived localities. It is estimated that 15,000 people live within these neighbourhood areas, out of a 91,000 people (16.5% of the population). Children are disproportionately located in these areas, with 20% of all children in the town living in these localities.

The area where deprivation is highest is in East Baird, which covers Broomgrove, Malvern Way and Southdown Avenue. This was ranked 7th, putting it in the top 10 of areas suffering the highest deprivation. Central Tressell (Halton Crescent and Priory Road) also scores very high in deprivation, with it being ranked as the 25th most deprived area. This means that 4% of the population in Hastings resides within the 100 most deprived neighbourhood areas in England.

11 localities reside within the bottom 5%, meaning 20.5% of the population lives within such areas. Children disproportionately comprise this group, with 25% residing in these localities. The central part of Hollington and the eastern part of Wishing Tree were areas that fell into this category, with them falling into the worst 500 areas in England. Another five localities were ranked inside the top 1000 most deprived neighbourhood areas. This included North central St Leonards, North Ore, West Castle and East Wishing Tree.

Figure 1: A Map showing total deprivation levels at a neighbourhood level in Hastings. Darker colours = more deprivation, lighter = less. For an interactive version click here:

Interactive Map showing total deprivation levels at a neighbourhood level in Hastings. Darker colours shower more deprivation, lighter = less deprivation.

28,500 people in Hastings live within the most deprived (top 10%) neighbourhood areas of England. This means that 32% of the population and 37% of all children in Hastings live in the highest levels of deprivation. Two-thirds of all areas within Hastings are ranked in the bottom 30%, see Figure 1. Therefore, it can be said that currently 63,300 people in Hastings live in the poorest three deciles (73% of the population), highlighting the sheer extent of relative poverty within the town. Figure 3 demonstrates that the most deprived areas of the borough continue to be located in the central southern parts of the town, the Hollington and Wishing Tree estates and the Ore/Baird Valley area (located in the east). 

Interestingly, Figure 1 demonstrates that intense pockets of deprivation coexist closely with areas of affluence. This is a continuation of trends found in previous waves. Further, the data highlights how inequality in the town has extended, with the gap between the ranks of the most deprived and affluent areas increasing by over 1,000. Whilst the average neighbourhood area rank changed by 700, four areas increased by over 2000 and 9 localities worsened by more than 2000. For example, the southern parts of Ore and Wishing Tree saw very large increases in deprivation, whilst the northern part of St Helens and Ashdown saw large decreases. This all highlights how inequality in Hastings has extended in the last 5 years.

The main drivers:

The main cause of the town’s low deprivation scores originates from Housing and service deprivation. An individual is assessed to be deprived of housing and key services when they are unable to access them due to geographical or financial limitations. This takes into account an individual’s ability to travel to access essential public services whilst also taking into account different measures of affordability.

The most housing-deprived localities are the northern part of Ore, the Central part of Tressell and the Eastern part of Baird. All these areas fall within the 100 most deprived localities within the whole of England. This has resulted in 6% of the population in Hastings residing within some of the most deprived areas in England for housing. Again, children disproportionately reside in such areas, with 10% of all children living in such localities.

Taking council ward housing deprivation averages, 11 out of 16 council wards fall into the bottom 10%. This means that 63,350 people in the town live in areas with very limited housing affordability and service accessibility (69% of the population). Children are more likely to reside within these areas, with 72% of all children in the borough living in the bottom decile for housing and service deprivation. 100% of the town falls below the national average on this measure.

The main reason why Hastings scores so poorly is because of the town’s historic barriers to accessing services, with poorly built estates being built on the edges of the town and neglected. Such areas are also challenged by limited public transport, with many not being able to afford transportation costs. Further, some buildings are old, damaged, poorly maintained and unsuitable, leading to poor housing scores. Additionally, an acute housing crisis has arisen in the last 5 years, meaning the town has gone from relative affordability to being uneconomical within a short period. Due to this, 17 out of 53 localities have slipped down the rankings by 10,000 places, see Figure 2. Areas in Silverhill, Tressell and Old Hastings saw particularly strong increases in housing deprivation. This means that 31% of the total population of Hastings has experienced a large increase in housing and service deprivation (relatively to the rest of England) since 2019. This indicates that, relative to the rest of England, the housing and cost-of-living crisis has made the town and its population more exposed to poverty.

Figure 2: A Map showing total deprivation levels at a neighbourhood level in Hastings. Darker colours = more deprivation, lighter = less. For an interactive version click here:

Employment and Health deprivation are the next most impactful factors, see Figure 3. Interestingly, both these measures also produced lower scores than in 2019. This indicates that increasing unemployment levels and worsening health in the town are contributing to the town’s increasing levels of deprivation. Also, low scores in education and crime contribute to the high levels of total deprivation. However, it should be noted that these areas' scores did not change from 2019. This suggests that whilst these historic problems contribute to high poverty levels, they are unlikely to be responsible for the recent increased poverty in the town.

Poor income also plays a part in generating higher-than-average deprivation scores. Yet, the average income rank of a local area in Hastings has increased by 1200, with specific areas increasing by more than this. This indicates that new arrivals with greater incomes may be improving the town in some dimensions, but increasing poverty in others, such as by worsening housing affordability. If such trends continue, without intervention, it is likely that deprivation and inequality within the town will continue to grow between now and the release of the next indices of deprivation (in 2030).

Figure 3. Change in different deprivation measures. Source Indices of Deprivation, 2019 - 2025.

End - Author - James Prentice, Published 04.12.2025.

For those interested in a deeper dive into the data, please see the full report

For those who do not have time to read this report a summary of the findings report is as as follows:

1. Deprivation in Hastings has increased relative to the rest of England, from a historically high base. Hastings is now the 14^th most deprived local authority in England.

2. Long-term problems surrounding deprivation in income, employment, health, education, crime and access to housing and public services persist.

3. A large proportion of people living in the town are exposed to high levels of deprivation when compared to the rest of England.

4. Children are more often affected by high levels of deprivation than other age groupings, especially older age groupings (those over the age of retirement).

5. There are intense pockets of deprivation within the town that coexist closely with areas of affluence. This is a continuation of trends found in previous waves of deprivation data.

6. Inequality within Hastings has extended, with deprivation increasing and decreasing in different parts of the town.

7. The most impactful factor in shaping high levels of deprivation in Hastings is barriers to accessing adequate housing and public services.

8. Employment and Health deprivation are the next most impactful factors. Low scores in education, employment and crime also contribute to the high levels of total deprivation.

9. The increase in deprivation has primarily come in the form of being unable to access housing and services. This indicates that, relative to the rest of England, the housing and cost-of-living crisis has made the town and its population more exposed to poverty.