Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a large town of 35,744 residents in Hampshire, South East.
The local economy does well (A+): mean household income £70,396; 1.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Residents are healthier than most: life expectancy 82.3 for men, 85.5 for women. What counts against it is walkability (C+): just over one in ten commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Buying the median home, at £377,750, takes 5.8 years of household income in the Fareham council area. All told, that adds up to an A overall and a rank of #16 of 76 in Hampshire. That leaves it better than 95% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, B for schools and B for hazard risk.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Locks Heath does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Locks Heath is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 130 buildings inside Locks Heath’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Locks Heath. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageCalshot Castle2.7 km outside town, to the southwest
Abbey or priory · English HeritageTitchfield Abbey300 m outside town, to the east
CastleNetley Castle4 km outside town, to the west
MuseumBursledon Windmill1.5 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumHovercraft Museum4.3 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Locks Heath.
2 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Self-reported good health: 85% of Locks Heath’s residents. 15% of residents have a disability, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Locks Heath is Southampton General Hospital, 8.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Locks Heath | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Attainment 8 at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km averages 45.8, and 45% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 4,189 pupils attend Locks Heath’s seven primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook-With-Warsash Church of England AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 421 | A− |
| Brookfield Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,854 | B+ |
| St Anthony's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 215 | A |
Private renters make up 13% of households. 8% live in social housing, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). 1,694 standard sales inside Locks Heath’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £377,750.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £515,000 | 709 |
| Semi-detached | £360,000 | 406 |
| Terraced | £295,000 | 338 |
| Flat or maisonette | £200,000 | 241 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Of the commuters living in Locks Heath, 26% work in the town itself. The car took 85% of commuters, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). 40% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 1,728 offences in Locks Heath and 276 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 48% of the total. Burglary and damage came to 7.7 per 1,000 residents a year, below Hampshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (9.4) alike.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Locks Heath’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peter, Grade I. 6% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
22% of residents are 65 or over, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Locks Heath in two is 45.8. Graduates make up 36% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Locks Heath | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
130 listed buildings in Locks Heath, 1 of them Grade I.
Brooklands: Photo: Peter Trimming · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 28-30, South Street: Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0 · Outbuilding Behind the Bugle Hotel: Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0 · Baptist Chapel: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0
7 notable people were born in Locks Heath.
Rachel Russell, Baroness Russell: William Dobson, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | — | A | A− | B− | A |
| Whiteley | 9,350 | 1.6 | A− | B | C+ | A |
| Hamble-le-Rice | 4,613 | 2.3 | A− | A− | B− | A− |
| Bursledon | 8,072 | 2.7 | C+ | A− | C− | C+ |
| Knowle | 1,487 | 3.2 | — | A | D | B+ |
| Fareham | 42,633 | 3.4 | A− | A | C | B |
| Netley | 6,309 | 3.4 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Hedge End | 23,195 | 4.1 | A | B+ | B | B+ |
Knowle has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £377,750, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £200,000, terraced houses £295,000, semi-detached houses £360,000 and detached houses £515,000. Household incomes are higher than in 89% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A−.
Band D council tax in Locks Heath is £2,271 for 2026–27, less than in 79% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Large town in Hampshire, England
Locks Heath is a built-up area of 35,744 people, in the Fareham council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · 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.