My Area UK

Sway

Sway is a village in Hampshire, England, with a population of around 2,421. It has one restaurant or café, with 11 bus stops and Sway railway station 0.3 km away. There were around 4 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly bicycle theft. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Sway area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the New Forest area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 175,785 residents at roughly 234 people per km².

Council
New Forest
County
Hampshire
Constituency
New Forest East
Police force
Hampshire
67/ 100

My Area Score

Excellent

Ranked 34th of 294 English council areas — better than 88% of them.

Low crime75
Home affordability26
Affordable rents32
Good schools84
Life expectancy85
Low deprivation76
Employment78
Low council tax55

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

18°CSunny

  • Today: 20° / 13° · 15% rain
  • Tomorrow: 22° / 17° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:35Sunset 19:29

12h 54m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

26US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Christchurch Barrack Road, United Kingdom

Crime

5 reported · July 2026 37% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences4
  • Public order1

1 stop & searches · mostly offensive weapons

Neighbourhood team: Lymington · Hampshire

Local policing priorities

  • Op Forestguard

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

Road safety

327 reported road collisions (2024)

99 killed or seriously injured · 399 casualties · 18.6 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

45 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 38 rated 4–5 ★ (33 top)
  • 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Sway (0.5 km)
  • 13 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Sway (0.6 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£380,310 average 1.2% YoY

Across New Forest · to 2026-06

Detached£576,165
Semi-detached£366,192
Terraced£296,504
Flat£195,788

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,241 average monthly rent 1.4% YoY

  • 1 bed £862
  • 2 bed £1,130
  • 3 bed £1,387

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

10.3× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 10.3 times median annual pay (10.2× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 171.9p · Asda (4 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 198.9p · Asda (4 km)

1 station within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

35 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 5 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 50 kW
  • Nearest: Gorse Close (3.7 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Swimming pools2
  • Sports pitches11
  • Playgrounds1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

175,785 residents in New Forest · 234/km²

  • Under 16: 15%
  • 16–64: 55%
  • 65+: 29%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 241 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,420 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band D (23% of 83,530)

A £1,613
B £1,882
C £2,151
D £2,420
E £2,957
F £3,495
G £4,033
H £4,840

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

Schools

86 schools · 21,932 pupils

54 primary · 9 secondary · 23 other

Ofsted: 22 of 23 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (96%)

67inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Hounsdown SchoolGood
  • Lift New ForestGood
  • The Arnewood SchoolInadequate
  • Applemore College
  • Noadswood School
  • Priestlands School
  • Ringwood School Academy
  • Testwood School
  • The Burgate School and Sixth Form

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · New Forest

Care & health services

1,436 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes482
  • GP practices163
  • Dentists325
  • Homecare agencies362
  • Hospitals & hospices35

CQC ratings: 90% of rated services Good or Outstanding

Source: Care Quality Commission · Hampshire

Heritage & planning

  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 9 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

Planning decisions

194 applications decided

89.2% granted · 173 granted, 21 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Sir Julian Lewis

Conservative

New Forest East

Recent votes:

  • NoTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading
  • AyeSocial Housing Bill [Lords]: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
  • NoDraft Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Conservative (minority)

  • Lab 1
  • Con 24
  • LD 14
  • Grn 2
  • Ref 2
  • Oth 5

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

Amenities nearby

  • Schools1
  • Pharmacies1
  • Restaurants & cafés1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

9,045 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

18 jobs advertised · £30,961 avg

e.g. Housekeeper, Sign Up as A Delivery Person - Earn With Uber Eats, Rental Property Cleaning Specialists

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£733 median full-time weekly pay

2.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£30,441 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

Energy efficiency

41% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 81,051 certificates

9.6% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Grid electricity

64% low-carbon electricity

Wind 39% · Gas 19% · Imports 17% · Biomass 14%

101 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for South England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 86.2 yrs women · 81.1 yrs men

63% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.8
  • Feeling worthwhile7.9
  • Happiness yesterday7.5
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in New Forest East:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • Sway, Hampshire · 0.5 km

    Sway is a village and civil parish in Hampshire in the New Forest national park in England. The civil parish was formed in 1879, when lands were taken from the extensive parish of Boldre. The village has shops and pub…

  • Sway railway station · 0.5 km

    Sway railway station serves the village of Sway in Hampshire, England. It is located on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is 95 miles 45 chains (153.8 km) down the line from Waterloo.

  • Avon Water, Hampshire · 1.5 km

    Avon Water is a small river draining some of the southwest of the New Forest in Hampshire to The Solent. West of the upper part of its archetypally dendritic drainage basin, which has formed due to the forest's heath…

  • Shirley Holms Halt railway station · 2.4 km

    Shirley Holms Halt was a railway halt in the New Forest district of Hampshire. Opened in 1860 it was closed in 1888 with opening of Sway on the South West Main Line. Said to be one of the first halts in the country,…

  • A337 road · 2.6 km

    The A337 road is a road in southern England that runs from the M27 motorway in Hampshire to Christchurch in Dorset.

  • Tiptoe, Hampshire · 2.6 km

    Tiptoe is a small village in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. It lies mostly within the civil parish of Hordle and partly within the civil parish of Sway. It is 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of Sway vil…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Sway?
Sway is a town in Hampshire, England, in the New Forest local authority.
What is the population of Sway?
Sway has an approximate settlement population of 2,421.
How deprived is Sway?
The New Forest local authority, which includes Sway, is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.