Strengths and challenges in Portsmouth
What works, what is under strain and what could change. Each finding links to its evidence and a proposed response.
This is a SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is an interpretation of the evidence, not a council rating.
Strengths to build on
Strength · Portsmouth local authority
The port and university give the city a strong base
The port recorded about 1.4 million international short-sea passenger movements in 2025. The university taught 20,731 full-time-equivalent students in 2024/25.
These are different measures, not a combined headcount or a claim that every benefit stays in Portsmouth. Better links to training and local suppliers can help residents share the gains.
Evidence and related projects
International ferry passenger movements: 1,399,000 · 2025 · Portsmouth port. Arrivals and departures are counted separately; these are not unique visitors. International short-sea ferry movements; excludes domestic Isle of Wight, Channel Islands and harbour ferry journeys. Published in thousands and converted to movements.
International cruise passenger movements: 61,000 · 2025 · Portsmouth port. This excludes transit calls and domestic cruises. DfT counts passenger movements, including both departure and arrival for a return journey. Published in thousands and converted to movements. International cruise excludes transit calls and domestic cruises; not unique people or all port visitors.
University of Portsmouth students, full-time equivalent: 20,731 · 2024/25 · University of Portsmouth. This measures the university’s teaching scale, not the number living inside the city. Provider-wide student full-time equivalents, not headcount or the number living within the city. May include provision delivered outside the city. Rounded by OfS.
Typical full-time annual pay for residents: 36,022 · resident median full-time pay, 2025 · Portsmouth. Residents’ pay is lower than pay for jobs located in the city. What Portsmouth residents earn, against what jobs in the city pay. Portsmouth residents (not workplaces).
Typical full-time annual pay for jobs in the city: 38,815 · 2025 (provisional) · Portsmouth. This includes commuters who live elsewhere. Median gross annual pay of full-time employees working in Portsmouth (workplace-based), ASHE.
Portsmouth International Port — cruise and ferry terminal →Sea Change shore power →Strength · Portsmouth local authority
Fly-tipping reports fell, but hotspots still need work
The council recorded 937 fly-tipping incidents in 2024/25.
The retained series fell from the previous year. Reporting and recording can change the count; repeated dumping at the same places needs targeted follow-up.
Evidence and related projects
Fly-tipping incidents recorded by the council: 937 · 2024/25 · Portsmouth. The annual count reflects both dumping and how it is reported and recorded. Fly-tipping incidents recorded by the council each year. Portsmouth local authority.
Pressures to tackle
Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Too few homes are reaching completion
Portsmouth delivered 308 homes against a requirement of 2,702 in the three-year housing test.
The council’s newer monitoring table reports 316 net homes in 2025/26. Its annual figures differ from the government test and have not been reconciled here. An allocation or masterplan does not by itself create homes.
Evidence and related projects
Homes delivered as a share of the requirement: 11% · HDT 2025 (2022/23–2024/25) · Portsmouth. Delivery fell well short of the government’s three-year requirement. Published measurement; homes include communal-accommodation equivalents, displayed rounded as in the official table. Consequence: Presumption.
Homes delivered over three years: 308 · HDT 2025 (2022/23–2024/25) · Portsmouth. The published delivery test counts 308 homes against a requirement of 2,702. Published measurement; homes include communal-accommodation equivalents, displayed rounded as in the official table. Consequence: Presumption.
Net homes added in council monitoring: 316 · 2025/26 · Portsmouth local authority. The latest council monitoring year is newer than the government’s three-year test. Council monitoring series, not the government Housing Delivery Test. Published annual components differ; no reconciliation is inferred.
Households in temporary accommodation: 608 · 31 March 2026 · Portsmouth. These households did not have settled housing at the end of March. Statutory homelessness administrative data. Quarterly assessment flows and point-in-time temporary accommodation are different measures. The denominator is the published household estimate, not population. National counts are rounded; suppressed cells are not zero.
Children in temporary accommodation: 612 · 31 March 2026 · Portsmouth. Children are affected as well as adults; this is a point-in-time count. Statutory homelessness administrative data. Quarterly assessment flows and point-in-time temporary accommodation are different measures. The denominator is the published household estimate, not population. National counts are rounded; suppressed cells are not zero.
City Centre North — former Tricorn and Sainsbury’s sites →Tipner West →Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Shared housing needs clearer quality measures
The combined register has 3,125 records; 3,107 are in licensed categories.
Rooms can help people find somewhere to live. Register size alone cannot tell us whether homes are safe or complaints are resolved. Repeated addresses also prevent treating every record as a different home.
Evidence and related projects
Records on the combined shared-housing register: 3,125 · council combined HMO register, September 2026 · Portsmouth. The 3,125 records include 3,107 in licensed categories. Repeated addresses mean records are not unique homes. Records on the council's combined HMO register (3,107 in licensed categories). Portsmouth local authority.
Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Children need support before absence deepens
In 2024/25, 3.55% of pupils missed at least half their school sessions; 42.9% of new education and care plans were on time in 2025.
These are different populations and years. They show two service pressures, not proof that delayed plans caused every absence.
Evidence and related projects
Pupils missing at least half their sessions: 3.5% · 2024/25 · Portsmouth. Severe absence can leave children far behind in learning and support. Pupil enrolments aged 5–15 missing 50% or more of possible sessions across the full academic year; state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools.
New education and care plans issued within 20 weeks: 42.9% · 2025 · Portsmouth. Fewer than half were issued within the statutory time limit in 2025. Use the same exceptions basis for all comparisons. Excluding exceptions is the DfE release headline.
Children and young people with education and care plans: 2,616 · January 2026 · Portsmouth. This is the number of plans maintained by Portsmouth, not all children needing extra support. Includes early years, further education and children educated elsewhere. This is not the number or share of school pupils with an EHC plan.
Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Health gaps remain large within the city
The estimated life-expectancy gap between deprivation levels is 9.4 years for men and 7.8 for women.
Healthcare, income, housing and prevention all matter. NHS dental use is one access indicator, but it cannot count everyone unable to find an appointment.
Evidence and related projects
Estimated male life-expectancy gap within the city: 9.4 · 2022–24 · Portsmouth. The official model compares the most and least deprived ends of the city. A modelled social-gradient gap, not the observed difference between two wards or two individual deciles. Use confidence intervals; methodology and deprivation-index changes can affect trends.
Estimated female life-expectancy gap within the city: 7.8 · 2022–24 · Portsmouth. The official model compares the most and least deprived ends of the city. A modelled social-gradient gap, not the observed difference between two wards or two individual deciles. Use confidence intervals; methodology and deprivation-index changes can affect trends.
Adults seen by an NHS dentist within two years: 30.2% · seen in 24 months, to March 2026 · Portsmouth. The measure records use of NHS dentistry, not everyone who wanted an appointment. Adults seen by an NHS dentist in the past two years. Portsmouth local authority.
Deaths before 75 from causes considered preventable: 192.1 · 2022–24 · Portsmouth. This is an age-adjusted rate over three years, not a count or proof about an individual death. Age-standardised using the 2013 European Standard Population. Three-year pooled rates smooth year-to-year variation; overlapping periods are not independent.
Bransbury Park leisure and healthcare hub →Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Crime varies between neighbourhoods and crime types
Mapped police records can show where incidents were recorded and which categories changed.
City centres attract visitors and businesses as well as residents. Use matching time windows and population definitions; a mapped crime rate is not an individual’s chance of being harmed.
Evidence and related projects
Opportunities to pursue
Opportunity · Portsmouth port and local transport corridors
Shore power can cut emissions while ships are berthed
The port says Sea Change is live, allowing connected vessels to use electricity instead of running engines at berth.
Its estimated annual carbon saving from 2027 is a forecast. Actual electricity use, connected calls and measured emissions should show whether the promise is met.
Evidence and related projects
Annual nitrogen dioxide at London Road: 28 · 2025 · London Road automatic monitoring station. One monitoring site cannot describe exposure on every street. A measured concentration at this monitoring station, not a citywide average. Gatcombe Park is the urban-background station; other stations represent roadside or kerbside conditions.
Sea Change shore power →Pompey Link on-demand bus pilot →Opportunity · Portsmouth local authority
Improved public spaces can benefit more residents
Hilsea Lido has reopened and Bransbury Park’s new sports and healthcare hub is being built.
Opening a facility is not the same as making it affordable and usable for all neighbourhoods. Participation, accessibility and transport should be checked after opening.
Evidence and related projects
Linear Park and Hilsea Lido →Bransbury Park leisure and healthcare hub →Football facilities — Levelling Up attribution unconfirmed →Pompey Link on-demand bus pilot →Opportunity · Portsmouth local authority
Link city promises to visible results
Council budgets, projects and partnership pledges are published in different places.
A common progress record would connect each commitment to its responsible body, money, next decision and measurable result. Proposals must remain separate from approved spending.
Evidence and related projects
Forecast general reserves: 22,300,000 · 31 March 2027 · Portsmouth. This is a forecast for March 2027, not money freely available for any new scheme. A forecast in the February 2026 budget report, not an actual reserve balance. Depends on delivery of planned savings.
Budget savings planned: 3,000,000 · 2026/27 · Portsmouth. Planned savings must still be delivered and their service effects checked. Budgeted savings required to balance the 2026/27 budget; not a reported actual overspend or achieved saving.
City Centre North — former Tricorn and Sainsbury’s sites →Tipner West →Football facilities — Levelling Up attribution unconfirmed →Risks to prepare for
Threat · Portsmouth local authority
Housing costs leave less for daily life
Average private rent was £1,368 a month in August 2026; the 2025 middle sale price was 7.22 times residents’ full-time annual pay.
The pay comparison concerns individuals, not household mortgage eligibility. It differs from the 6.70 ratio for jobs based here. High costs and low incomes need separate responses.
Evidence and related projects
Average monthly private rent: 1,368 · August 2026 · Portsmouth. Rent is an ongoing household cost, before bills. Average monthly private rent, all property types, ONS Price Index of Private Rents.
House price compared with residents’ annual pay: 7.2 · 2025 · Portsmouth. The middle sale price was 7.22 times the middle full-time resident salary. Median price paid for properties divided by median gross annual full-time employee earnings of residents. This is not a household mortgage multiple, workplace earnings ratio or ratio computed from the monthly house-price index.
House price compared with pay for jobs in the city: 6.7 · 2025 · Portsmouth. This measures jobs located here, including people who commute in. Published ONS median affordability ratio. Median house sale price divided by median gross annual full-time employee earnings of people working in the area. This differs from residence-based earnings and is not a household mortgage multiple. Use the annual published ratio, not a mix of differently dated house prices and earnings.
Children in low-income families after housing costs: 31% · FYE 2025 · Portsmouth. About three in ten children were below the relative low-income threshold. Children aged under 16 in relative low-income families; income below 60% of the contemporary median. DWP calibrates to HBAI. Disclosure control means ward totals may not equal city totals. FYE 2025 rates use mid-2024 population denominators; the tables use May 2024 ward boundaries. BHC and AHC are distinct measures. Historical values in this release have been revised.
Households in fuel poverty: 10.9% · 2024 · Portsmouth. These households meet the official low-income and poor-energy-efficiency definition. Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) measure. Modelled official statistics in development; suitable for broad comparisons, not detailed year-to-year trends. Local figures are 2024 estimates, not national 2025 projections.
City Centre North — former Tricorn and Sainsbury’s sites →Threat · Portsmouth local authority
Flood protection needs delivery and maintenance
The June 2026 assessment places 2,849 properties in the high river or sea flood-risk band.
This is modelled exposure, not an annual count of flooded homes. Coastal schemes can reduce risk, but their operation, maintenance and future climate assumptions remain important.
Evidence and related projects
Properties in the high river or sea flood-risk band: 2,849 · June 2026 · Portsmouth local authority. Modelled flood exposure is a planning measure, not a prediction that each property will flood. Modelled risk of flooding from rivers and sea, allowing for flood defences; excludes surface-water and groundwater flooding. Includes residential, non-residential and unclassified properties from the National Receptor Dataset 2023. June 2026 risk model, not a count of properties flooded. At least a 3.3% annual chance. Display rounded to the nearest 10; source value retained.
Properties in mapped river or sea flood-risk bands: 11,827 · June 2026 · Portsmouth local authority. This includes very low, low, medium and high risk; it is not the high-risk count. Modelled risk of flooding from rivers and sea, allowing for flood defences; excludes surface-water and groundwater flooding. Includes residential, non-residential and unclassified properties from the National Receptor Dataset 2023. June 2026 risk model, not a count of properties flooded. Includes the very-low likelihood band. Display rounded to the nearest 10; source value retained.
Hilsea Lines moat restoration and sea defences →Southsea Coastal Scheme →Threat · Southsea East beach and named local overflow monitor
Beach water quality needs results, not just promises
Southsea East was rated Poor for 2025. The Henderson Road, Eastney overflow recorded 86 overflow spills during 2025.
The beach classification and overflow monitor cover different things. A discharge count cannot attribute every poor water sample to that outlet.
Evidence and related projects
Storm-overflow spills at Henderson Road, Eastney: 86 · 2025 · Henderson Road Eastney Cso. A spill count measures recorded discharges, not their volume or every pollution source. Named outfall (SWS00416), discharging to THE SOLENT; not a city or harbour total. Spill count uses EA 12/24-hour method. Duration is monitored discharge time, not sewage volume or a real-time bathing safety result. Monitor operational for 97.52% of reporting period.
