A strong skills base
The existing city evidence records 38.5% of residents aged 16 and over with degree-level or equivalent qualifications in 2021. This does not establish that suitable jobs are available to everyone.
Qualifications evidence →What works here—and what needs attention.
A local SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Interpretation is labelled and linked to evidence.
Strengths
Plans and partnerships to build on
The adopted Local Plan and regeneration strategy provide an agreed framework. Delivery and benefits still need to be tested.
City regeneration strategy approved ↗Annual Report 2025–26 ↗Weaknesses and threats
Housing pressure reaches beyond house prices
Nightly-paid temporary accommodation held 106 households in June 2026. This is one part of temporary accommodation, not all homelessness.
The district also reported 160 affordable homes enabled in 2025/26 against a target of 167. Supply and immediate housing need require separate measures.
Council performance: first quarter 2026/27 ↗Growth needs working water infrastructure
Housing delivery must keep pace with wastewater capacity and protection of the harbour.
Capacity, nutrient pollution and water supply are different constraints. Their boundaries differ; a district-wide label can mislead.
Planning guidance and wastewater capacity ↗District totals can conceal local changes
Police neighbourhood trends differ within Chichester. City-centre activity cannot be inferred from the district average.
Published police locations are approximate and omit unmapped incidents. Counts do not measure every crime or the risk to an individual.
Plans need visible delivery milestones
Several regeneration schemes remain in design or feasibility in the reviewed evidence.
A funding announcement does not show money spent or benefits achieved. Missing completion evidence is not proof that nothing happened.
Annual Report 2025–26 ↗Projects agreed for 2026 ↗Recycling needs a new baseline
42.3% of household waste was reused, recycled or composted in 2025/26. Food-waste collections began near the end of that year.
The first-quarter report still awaited a new recycling figure. It cannot yet establish the full-year effect of the new service.
Annual Report 2025–26 ↗Council performance: first quarter 2026/27 ↗Opportunities
Our interpretation: make housing, water capacity and regeneration milestones visible together. The existing projects offer a practical starting point, but their benefits should be measured after delivery.
These are suggestions, not approved council policy or costed appraisals.
See the proposed action sequence →