Falcon Hotel · Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0For burglary, vehicle crime and damage, Holbury beats 66% of UK towns per resident
Recorded violence fell 12% in a year. In sum, crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put Holbury at B− (#44 of 76 in Hampshire): close to the middle of UK towns. For every 1,000 residents, 27.0 violent and sexual offences and 7.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year. Set against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 45% of them.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Holbury
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Holbury than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Holbury has the 247th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Fakenham, Winslow and Princes Risborough, higher than Southborough, Shipston-on-Stour and Tiptree. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Holbury’s B−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 760 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Holbury against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How Holbury’s neighbourhoods rank in England
12% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Holbury’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
How crime in Holbury has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -12% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +61% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -13% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +97% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Vehicle crime and other theft sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 185 | 25.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 59 | 8 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 36 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 30 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 15 | 2 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 15 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 11 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 10 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 10 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 66% of Holbury’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 6% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 257 crimes.
Holbury is 247th of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 4 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Four Marks Hampshire | 5,613 | 13.8 | 5.5 | 5.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Odiham Hampshire | 5,091 | 13.8 | 6.7 | 5.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 41 | Denmead Hampshire | 6,509 | 16 | 5.3 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 244 | Southborough Kent | 9,632 | 24.6 | 9.8 | 8.4 | B− |
| 245 | Shipston-on-Stour Warwickshire | 5,852 | 25.5 | 8.9 | 7.4 | B− |
| 246 | Tiptree Essex | 9,302 | 26.3 | 8.2 | 5.8 | B− |
| 247 | Holbury Hampshire | 7,339 | 27 | 7.5 | 5 | B− |
| 248 | Ruddington Nottinghamshire | 7,491 | 23 | 11.6 | 5.5 | B− |
| 249 | Long Ashton Somerset | 5,184 | 21.5 | 13.1 | 5.3 | B− |
| 250 | Bidford-on-Avon Warwickshire | 5,825 | 23.6 | 11.2 | 4.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 546 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Holbury, and others in Hampshire.
Lowest recorded crime in Fawley, Blackfield and Langley, Holbury and North Blackfield and Furzedown and Hardley; highest in Furzedown and Hardley
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fawley, Blackfield and Langley | 1,166 | 18 | 4.9 | |
| Holbury and North Blackfield | 5,072 | 28 | 7.9 | |
| Furzedown and Hardley | 1,101 | 31.8 | 8.8 |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Holbury’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026.
Crime in Holbury per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Holbury’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 30 collisions with injuries inside Holbury in five years. 9 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Holbury is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Holbury’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 6 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Holbury had 9.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Holbury’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Holbury
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holbury | 7,339 | 27 | 7.5 | B− |
| Blackfield and Langley | 5,844 | 29.8 | 8.3 | C+ |
| Hythe and Dibden Purlieu | 19,857 | 27.6 | 10.4 | C+ |
| Hamble-le-Rice | 4,613 | 23.9 | 10.6 | B− |
| Netley | 6,309 | 29.4 | 12.7 | C |
| Bursledon | 8,072 | 33.8 | 14 | C− |
| Marchwood | 5,776 | 22.9 | 8.8 | B− |
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | 23 | 7.7 | B− |
Holbury records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Hamble-le-Rice, 3.3 miles away, records 23.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Holbury’s 27.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Holbury sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Holbury
Is Holbury safe?
Police recorded 27 violent and sexual offences and 7.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Holbury’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 45% of UK towns. Among 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Holbury is 247th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Holbury?
By council ward, Fawley, Blackfield and Langley, Holbury and North Blackfield and Furzedown and Hardley record the least violent and household crime per resident: 18, 28 and 31.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 31.8 in Furzedown and Hardley.
Is crime going up in Holbury?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 61%, shoplifting and theft fell 13% and anti-social behaviour rose 97%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Holbury?
Violence & sexual offences: 185 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (36) and public order (30), with 59 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Holbury compare with Southampton?
Southampton records 58.3 violent and sexual offences and 22.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Holbury’s 27 and 7.5, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.