Name: England house-fire rates by council area, 2023/24–2025/26
Creator: Fire Warden Training
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Manchester records the highest rate; Hart the lowest

Manchester recorded 16.70 primary dwelling fires per 10,000 dwellings per year across 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26. Nottingham followed at 16.64 and Blackpool at 16.59. The three areas’ rates are very close: their numerical positions should not be read as evidence of a meaningful difference in underlying risk.

At the other end of the table, Hart in Hampshire recorded 4.43, followed by East Cambridgeshire at 4.81 and Tonbridge and Malling at 5.04. These are the lowest recorded rates among the 289 areas that meet the study’s completeness and minimum-count rules.

The comparison covers fires in houses and flats attended by fire and rescue services, including accidental and deliberate fires. It measures incidents, not the number of households affected or the chance that an individual home will catch fire.

Reading the results: this is an England-only comparison of recorded dwelling-fire rates. It is not a ranking of overall safety, fire-service performance or the best places to live. Five Suffolk councils have incomplete records; City of London and Isles of Scilly have too few incidents for the main ranking.

Highest recorded rates

Annual fires per 10,000 dwellings. Rank 1 is highest.

1Manchester1,208 fires over three years16.70
2Nottingham699 fires over three years16.64
3Blackpool365 fires over three years16.59
4Norwich339 fires over three years16.48
5Hackney580 fires over three years16.21
6Birmingham2,215 fires over three years16.15
7Southwark671 fires over three years15.31
8Haringey536 fires over three years15.28
9Hastings202 fires over three years15.06
10Salford594 fires over three years14.90

Lowest recorded rates

Shown from lowest upwards; national rank retained.

289Hart57 fires over three years4.43
288East Cambridgeshire59 fires over three years4.81
287Tonbridge and Malling86 fires over three years5.04
286Eastleigh95 fires over three years5.21
285Derbyshire Dales57 fires over three years5.26
284Hinckley and Bosworth84 fires over three years5.30
283South Cambridgeshire117 fires over three years5.30
282Tunbridge Wells84 fires over three years5.31
281Blaby78 fires over three years5.83
280Cheshire East334 fires over three years5.84

Why do some areas record more house fires?

Deprivation is one evidence-backed factor worth considering. Housing conditions, household circumstances and the types of fires occurring may also matter. Our ranking measures the differences; it does not establish what caused them.

Manchester: a higher rate, rather than the most fires

Manchester recorded 1,208 dwelling fires, compared with Birmingham’s 2,215. Manchester ranks higher after adjusting for the number of homes. Its rate of 16.70 is also only slightly above Nottingham’s 16.64 and Blackpool’s 16.59. Those small gaps do not demonstrate that one city is meaningfully more at risk than the others.

The 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation places Manchester fourth, Nottingham twentieth and Blackpool first for deprivation on the council-level average-score measure. These are all among the 20 most deprived of England’s 296 council areas on that measure. Deprivation covers access to resources and opportunities, including income, employment, health and housing.

A 2026 study of Greater Manchester found around three times as many accidental dwelling fires per person in the most deprived neighbourhood group as in the least deprived group over 2013/14–2023/24. That supports deprivation as a possible part of the explanation. It covers the wider city region, an earlier period and accidental fires only, so it does not explain Manchester’s exact position in our ranking.

Deprivation context for the three highest and three lowest recorded fire rates
Council area	Annual fires per 10,000 dwellings	Deprivation rank out of 296
Manchester	16.70	4
Nottingham	16.64	20
Blackpool	16.59	1
Hart	4.43	296
East Cambridgeshire	4.81	247
Tonbridge and Malling	5.04	233

Deprivation rank: 1 = most deprived; 296 = least deprived. Uses the IMD 2025 rank of average score, corrected File 10 v2, matched by May 2024 council code. Fire rates cover 2023/24–2025/26. These six examples were selected by their fire rates; this is not a test of the relationship across all councils. Download the comparison (CSV).

Hart and other lower-rate areas

Hart is the least deprived council area on the same measure, while East Cambridgeshire and Tonbridge and Malling are also towards the less-deprived end. Their lower recorded fire rates are consistent with the wider research, but that does not prove why each area sits near the bottom of this table.

Hart recorded 18, 22 and 17 fires in the three years. Its low rate is not simply a result of having fewer homes: the calculation already allows for housing stock. With relatively small counts, however, a handful of additional incidents can move an area’s rate and rank.

What might sit behind the pattern?

The Greater Manchester research discusses possible pathways such as difficulty replacing or maintaining older appliances and the use of less-safe heating options under financial pressure. These are possible mechanisms, not findings about the homes in our dataset. Identifying their contribution would require incident-level information about ignition sources, properties and household circumstances.

For national context, MHCLG’s 2025/26 analysis reports cooking appliances as the ignition source in 42% of accidental dwelling fires. Smoking materials accounted for 7.6% of those fires but 27% of associated fatalities. These England-wide figures are not a breakdown of Manchester’s incidents and show why fire frequency and fire severity need to be considered separately.

A fairer comparison than raw fire counts

Birmingham recorded 2,215 dwelling fires across the three years, compared with Manchester’s 1,208. But Birmingham also has substantially more homes. Dividing by housing stock puts Manchester’s recorded rate above Birmingham’s 16.15 per 10,000 dwellings.

Across the ranked areas, the combined annual rate is 10.08 per 10,000 dwellings. This benchmark is weighted by housing stock; it is not an average of the 289 council rates.

The map uses the same council boundaries for every year. Grey areas are excluded from the ranking, and the searchable table gives the reason.

Download the map (PNG)

Choropleth map of the 296 English council areas on May 2024 boundaries. Rates range from under six to fourteen or more annual dwelling fires per 10,000 dwellings. Seven excluded areas are grey; exact values are in the council table. — Sources: MHCLG and ONS. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; ONS data © Crown copyright 2026.

Your local fire profile

What might explain the differences between areas?

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How the figures changed over three years

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Annual rates use each year’s starting housing stock. The ranking uses all three years together. Changes are descriptive and do not establish a cause or statistical significance.

The ten highest recorded rates

The ten highest recorded annual rates, led by Manchester at 16.70, Nottingham at 16.64 and Blackpool at 16.59 fires per 10,000 dwellings. All ten figures are listed above.

The ten lowest recorded rates

Hart, East Cambridgeshire and Tonbridge and Malling lead the lower-rate end of the comparison. All ten areas below recorded rates at least 42% below the combined rate across ranked councils. This is a comparison of recorded incidents, not a measure of overall safety.

The ten lowest recorded annual rates: Hart 4.43, East Cambridgeshire 4.81, Tonbridge and Malling 5.04, Eastleigh 5.21, Derbyshire Dales 5.26, Hinckley and Bosworth 5.30, South Cambridgeshire 5.30, Tunbridge Wells 5.31, Blaby 5.83, Cheshire East 5.84. Fires per 10,000 dwellings; combined rate across ranked areas 10.08.

Download the lowest-rate chart (PNG) · SVG version · Lowest ten: full figures (CSV)

Find your council area

Search by council name or choose a region. Counts cover each financial year from April to March; the rate combines all three years.

Showing 296 council areas: 289 ranked and 7 excluded.

House-fire rates by English council area, 2023/24–2025/26
Rank	Council area	Region	Fires 2023/24	Fires 2024/25	Fires 2025/26	Three-year fires	Annual rate per 10,000
1	Manchester	North West	391	421	396	1,208	16.70
2	Nottingham	East Midlands	236	238	225	699	16.64
3	Blackpool	North West	117	113	135	365	16.59
4	Norwich	East of England	118	101	120	339	16.48
5	Hackney	London	195	176	209	580	16.21
6	Birmingham	West Midlands	713	778	724	2,215	16.15
7	Southwark	London	216	258	197	671	15.31
8	Haringey	London	160	175	201	536	15.28
9	Hastings	South East	77	65	60	202	15.06
10	Salford	North West	198	191	205	594	14.90
11	Lewisham	London	189	198	203	590	14.76
12	Great Yarmouth	East of England	59	88	75	222	14.70
13	Oldham	North West	152	142	138	432	14.51
14	Brent	London	192	196	193	581	14.38
15	Newham	London	192	194	183	569	14.24
16	Gloucester	South West	77	83	93	253	14.18
17	Greenwich	London	153	187	189	529	14.16
18	Rochdale	North West	135	137	142	414	14.12
19	Islington	London	162	147	145	454	13.95
20	Burnley	North West	52	67	59	178	13.87
21	Luton	East of England	116	112	121	349	13.86
22	Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	158	170	164	492	13.79
23	Camden	London	152	138	162	452	13.71
24	Liverpool	North West	324	310	313	947	13.56
25	Croydon	London	215	223	249	687	13.55
26	Bristol, City of	South West	293	280	271	844	13.52
27	Newcastle upon Tyne	North East	182	171	185	538	13.49
28	Torbay	South West	109	87	87	283	13.46
29	Barking and Dagenham	London	95	106	124	325	13.45
30	Tower Hamlets	London	216	181	174	571	13.36
31	Slough	South East	71	81	78	230	13.31
32	Bolton	North West	179	150	181	510	13.27
33	Westminster	London	164	201	162	527	13.23
34	Hyndburn	North West	54	49	46	149	13.13
35	Coventry	West Midlands	197	194	191	582	13.13
36	Lambeth	London	199	179	202	580	13.08
37	Kingston upon Hull, City of	Yorkshire and the Humber	158	169	160	487	13.02
38	Eastbourne	South East	65	58	72	195	13.01
39	Lincoln	East Midlands	60	58	59	177	12.95
40	Plymouth	South West	150	153	172	475	12.93
41	Bradford	Yorkshire and the Humber	285	272	299	856	12.77
42	Worthing	South East	71	62	66	199	12.69
43	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	104	97	115	316	12.60
44	Preston	North West	86	88	79	253	12.53
45	Knowsley	North West	83	97	87	267	12.45
46	Portsmouth	South East	121	120	100	341	12.43
47	Ealing	London	174	170	202	546	12.42
48	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	236	199	261	696	12.30
49	Cheltenham	South West	77	72	63	212	12.29
50	Enfield	London	166	150	160	476	12.16
51	Leicester	East Midlands	163	187	152	502	12.14
52	Sutton	London	106	102	105	313	12.05
53	Basildon	East of England	87	109	94	290	12.04
54	Southampton	South East	124	138	132	394	12.01
55	Sandwell	West Midlands	151	170	169	490	11.98
56	Hounslow	London	126	126	151	403	11.95
57	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	East of England	96	86	91	273	11.93
58	Wirral	North West	182	182	182	546	11.91
59	Hammersmith and Fulham	London	100	113	136	349	11.86
60	Waltham Forest	London	139	129	125	393	11.77
61	Redbridge	London	121	116	145	382	11.74
62	Sheffield	Yorkshire and the Humber	315	289	280	884	11.74
63	Exeter	South West	72	73	57	202	11.71
64	Crawley	South East	53	62	51	166	11.68
65	Reading	South East	88	98	75	261	11.63
66	Brighton and Hove	South East	170	139	156	465	11.55
67	Wyre Forest	West Midlands	67	57	47	171	11.54
68	Wolverhampton	West Midlands	126	138	133	397	11.50
69	Barnet	London	200	169	190	559	11.45
70	Blackburn with Darwen	North West	76	71	71	218	11.40
71	Stockport	North West	151	149	152	452	11.33
72	Peterborough	East of England	115	90	103	308	11.33
73	South Tyneside	North East	87	78	82	247	11.32
74	Nuneaton and Bedworth	West Midlands	70	55	83	208	11.30
75	Tendring	East of England	95	87	72	254	11.26
76	Milton Keynes	South East	136	144	140	420	11.23
77	Hillingdon	London	121	143	132	396	11.20
78	North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	165	169	200	534	11.09
79	Trafford	North West	110	101	130	341	11.06
80	Calderdale	Yorkshire and the Humber	113	99	108	320	10.94
81	Lancaster	North West	66	83	68	217	10.92
82	Worcester	West Midlands	60	49	47	156	10.91
83	Tameside	North West	89	136	120	345	10.90
84	Doncaster	Yorkshire and the Humber	145	158	168	471	10.90
85	West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	178	203	227	608	10.90
86	Sefton	North West	137	153	138	428	10.78
87	Thurrock	East of England	68	62	97	227	10.73
88	Bury	North West	85	91	99	275	10.73
89	Derby	East Midlands	118	136	112	366	10.66
90	West Lindsey	East Midlands	53	54	42	149	10.66
91	Pendle	North West	44	46	43	133	10.63
92	Middlesbrough	North East	72	68	69	209	10.61
93	Wigan	North West	157	159	171	487	10.61
94	Mansfield	East Midlands	65	52	47	164	10.59
95	Oxford	South East	69	56	66	191	10.57
96	Telford and Wrekin	West Midlands	95	80	89	264	10.50
97	Stroud	South West	65	50	64	179	10.49
98	Harrow	London	97	94	112	303	10.44
99	Wandsworth	London	185	153	153	491	10.44
100	North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	79	64	93	236	10.43
101	Hartlepool	North East	49	42	50	141	10.28
102	Kensington and Chelsea	London	91	90	96	277	10.26
103	Swindon	South West	89	95	132	316	10.25
104	Walsall	West Midlands	138	101	126	365	10.25
105	Bassetlaw	East Midlands	59	70	46	175	10.21
106	St. Helens	North West	80	98	86	264	10.21
107	Dudley	West Midlands	148	137	146	431	10.15
108	Bexley	London	100	101	107	308	10.14
109	Ashfield	East Midlands	57	59	60	176	10.13
110	South Ribble	North West	51	48	60	159	10.12
111	Tamworth	West Midlands	31	37	38	106	10.12
112	West Lancashire	North West	54	46	60	160	10.11
113	Bedford	East of England	76	87	83	246	10.08
114	Sunderland	North East	146	135	118	399	9.99
115	Boston	East Midlands	31	31	33	95	9.94
116	Merton	London	90	85	87	262	9.89
117	Redditch	West Midlands	25	41	47	113	9.86
118	Havering	London	104	111	103	318	9.74
119	Kirklees	Yorkshire and the Humber	184	168	205	557	9.73
120	Gateshead	North East	89	93	96	278	9.72
121	Harlow	East of England	44	35	39	118	9.69
122	Fenland	East of England	47	48	44	139	9.68
123	Leeds	Yorkshire and the Humber	346	379	341	1,066	9.66
124	Isle of Wight	South East	64	80	71	215	9.61
125	Rother	South East	47	39	50	136	9.60
126	Stevenage	East of England	40	41	29	110	9.57
127	Epsom and Ewell	South East	30	29	36	95	9.55
128	Rossendale	North West	27	35	32	94	9.55
129	West Devon	South West	31	21	26	78	9.50
130	Lewes	South East	58	36	41	135	9.47
131	Adur	South East	31	19	32	82	9.40
132	Stafford	West Midlands	64	63	54	181	9.39
133	Wyre	North West	59	43	56	158	9.37
134	Redcar and Cleveland	North East	57	60	71	188	9.37
135	Kingston upon Thames	London	72	67	58	197	9.34
136	Bath and North East Somerset	South West	76	87	77	240	9.33
137	Spelthorne	South East	44	36	43	123	9.23
138	Bromley	London	128	132	133	393	9.17
139	Dacorum	East of England	71	62	53	186	9.13
140	Chesterfield	East Midlands	44	51	44	139	9.08
141	Gravesham	South East	38	42	43	123	9.05
142	Broxtowe	East Midlands	47	43	50	140	9.04
143	Barnsley	Yorkshire and the Humber	104	108	100	312	9.00
144	North Devon	South West	36	44	55	135	8.92
145	North Norfolk	East of England	52	41	61	154	8.90
146	Three Rivers	East of England	26	42	36	104	8.88
147	Welwyn Hatfield	East of England	54	47	31	132	8.87
148	Richmond upon Thames	London	67	91	70	228	8.83
149	Stockton-on-Tees	North East	72	65	101	238	8.81
150	Chichester	South East	59	50	54	163	8.76
151	Gosport	South East	36	34	29	99	8.72
152	Ribble Valley	North West	33	19	27	79	8.72
153	Wychavon	West Midlands	46	60	55	161	8.69
154	Elmbridge	South East	59	43	55	157	8.67
155	East Hampshire	South East	43	41	62	146	8.66
156	Herefordshire, County of	West Midlands	74	69	91	234	8.59
157	Maldon	East of England	26	23	29	78	8.58
158	Dorset	South West	142	157	186	485	8.57
159	Epping Forest	East of England	51	46	53	150	8.57
160	Bromsgrove	West Midlands	38	35	38	111	8.55
161	Lichfield	West Midlands	38	51	37	126	8.53
162	Newcastle-under-Lyme	West Midlands	60	43	44	147	8.53
163	Chorley	North West	48	44	44	136	8.52
164	Broadland	East of England	46	44	69	159	8.51
165	Cumberland	North West	110	125	118	353	8.46
166	Somerset	South West	236	216	239	691	8.46
167	South Kesteven	East Midlands	43	69	59	171	8.45
168	County Durham	North East	213	203	223	639	8.43
169	Gedling	East Midlands	44	43	52	139	8.41
170	Teignbridge	South West	60	57	49	166	8.41
171	Malvern Hills	West Midlands	40	34	22	96	8.41
172	Guildford	South East	59	47	48	154	8.40
173	Oadby and Wigston	East Midlands	20	22	19	61	8.37
174	North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	59	63	73	195	8.37
175	Mole Valley	South East	31	37	31	99	8.33
176	South Holland	East Midlands	36	35	40	111	8.32
177	Runnymede	South East	33	33	30	96	8.31
178	Wealden	South East	62	59	65	186	8.28
179	Broxbourne	East of England	28	40	38	106	8.27
180	Medway	South East	99	108	92	299	8.26
181	Torridge	South West	26	32	28	86	8.25
182	Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	48	54	62	164	8.22
183	Bolsover	East Midlands	35	30	30	95	8.19
184	Warwick	West Midlands	48	52	69	169	8.17
185	Darlington	North East	42	47	41	130	8.10
186	Bracknell Forest	South East	39	43	50	132	8.09
187	Watford	East of England	31	36	39	106	8.09
188	Melton	East Midlands	23	16	21	60	8.09
189	Northumberland	North East	136	126	135	397	8.08
190	Amber Valley	East Midlands	44	54	48	146	8.05
191	South Gloucestershire	South West	86	106	116	308	8.05
192	East Staffordshire	West Midlands	43	39	53	135	8.04
193	Swale	South East	54	58	53	165	8.00
194	Arun	South East	68	67	55	190	7.98
195	North Kesteven	East Midlands	34	45	51	130	7.93
196	Castle Point	East of England	28	33	32	93	7.93
197	Cornwall	South West	239	231	224	694	7.88
198	South Hams	South West	44	34	36	114	7.87
199	Rotherham	Yorkshire and the Humber	102	99	85	286	7.82
200	West Oxfordshire	South East	47	39	39	125	7.81
201	Colchester	East of England	59	59	83	201	7.80
202	Tandridge	South East	33	26	30	89	7.78
203	Solihull	West Midlands	74	61	89	224	7.78
204	Cannock Chase	West Midlands	33	32	42	107	7.74
205	Westmorland and Furness	North West	80	95	106	281	7.74
206	Forest of Dean	South West	29	23	43	95	7.73
207	Chelmsford	East of England	53	66	69	188	7.72
208	North Tyneside	North East	87	67	81	235	7.71
209	Mid Sussex	South East	55	59	46	160	7.69
210	Cambridge	East of England	41	57	36	134	7.67
211	Breckland	East of England	64	47	40	151	7.65
212	Erewash	East Midlands	46	43	33	122	7.65
213	Shropshire	West Midlands	132	107	110	349	7.65
214	North Warwickshire	West Midlands	27	20	21	68	7.62
215	North Somerset	South West	73	84	77	234	7.59
216	Wakefield	Yorkshire and the Humber	113	133	129	375	7.58
217	Mid Devon	South West	26	33	28	87	7.56
218	Stratford-on-Avon	West Midlands	62	41	49	152	7.51
219	Charnwood	East Midlands	49	53	76	178	7.51
220	Halton	North West	49	47	37	133	7.48
221	South Norfolk	East of England	48	56	46	150	7.48
222	Havant	South East	55	47	26	128	7.47
223	Newark and Sherwood	East Midlands	48	45	37	130	7.46
224	Wiltshire	South West	172	144	198	514	7.39
225	Horsham	South East	59	46	42	147	7.39
226	Thanet	South East	44	50	63	157	7.37
227	Woking	South East	40	23	36	99	7.36
228	Vale of White Horse	South East	42	44	55	141	7.33
229	West Berkshire	South East	51	54	52	157	7.33
230	Hertsmere	East of England	34	25	41	100	7.32
231	Dover	South East	40	38	46	124	7.31
232	Basingstoke and Deane	South East	57	57	64	178	7.28
233	Rushcliffe	East Midlands	34	44	42	120	7.25
234	Surrey Heath	South East	24	34	26	84	7.25
235	Reigate and Banstead	South East	42	53	44	139	7.21
236	Central Bedfordshire	East of England	92	105	88	285	7.20
237	High Peak	East Midlands	32	33	30	95	7.16
238	Buckinghamshire	South East	167	170	176	513	7.16
239	Braintree	East of England	50	48	52	150	7.14
240	Warrington	North West	71	72	64	207	7.11
241	East Hertfordshire	East of England	52	43	49	144	7.11
242	Waverley	South East	48	27	47	122	7.09
243	Canterbury	South East	44	44	61	149	7.08
244	Wokingham	South East	50	46	62	158	7.06
245	Maidstone	South East	52	62	53	167	7.03
246	North Hertfordshire	East of England	46	35	44	125	6.94
247	York	Yorkshire and the Humber	70	59	62	191	6.91
248	Uttlesford	East of England	31	25	28	84	6.91
249	Rugby	West Midlands	30	41	37	108	6.90
250	North West Leicestershire	East Midlands	35	35	31	101	6.87
251	South Derbyshire	East Midlands	28	40	36	104	6.85
252	North East Derbyshire	East Midlands	24	33	43	100	6.78
253	East Lindsey	East Midlands	56	63	63	182	6.74
254	Cotswold	South West	27	34	33	94	6.73
255	Rushmoor	South East	39	28	18	85	6.70
256	Fylde	North West	23	31	30	84	6.69
257	Rutland	East Midlands	12	15	9	36	6.68
258	Brentwood	East of England	24	22	25	71	6.67
259	Staffordshire Moorlands	West Midlands	35	27	29	91	6.67
260	Cherwell	South East	44	42	58	144	6.62
261	Harborough	East Midlands	36	33	19	88	6.59
262	Rochford	East of England	25	26	24	75	6.59
263	Tewkesbury	South West	28	30	33	91	6.59
264	East Devon	South West	51	57	40	148	6.57
265	Dartford	South East	43	35	20	98	6.55
266	Sevenoaks	South East	26	35	41	102	6.51
267	St Albans	East of England	36	34	53	123	6.49
268	North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	209	197	194	600	6.48
269	Test Valley	South East	39	28	46	113	6.42
270	Winchester	South East	36	37	37	110	6.37
271	Folkestone and Hythe	South East	37	34	32	103	6.31
272	Ashford	South East	20	33	58	111	6.29
273	New Forest	South East	49	56	51	156	6.18
274	South Oxfordshire	South East	41	44	40	125	6.16
275	East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	110	85	132	327	6.09
276	Cheshire West and Chester	North West	92	108	101	301	6.02
277	Huntingdonshire	East of England	54	57	39	150	6.00
278	South Staffordshire	West Midlands	31	30	27	88	5.94
279	Fareham	South East	32	32	27	91	5.94
280	Cheshire East	North West	115	114	105	334	5.84
281	Blaby	East Midlands	28	23	27	78	5.83
282	Tunbridge Wells	South East	21	33	30	84	5.31
283	South Cambridgeshire	East of England	32	50	35	117	5.30
284	Hinckley and Bosworth	East Midlands	26	30	28	84	5.30
285	Derbyshire Dales	East Midlands	25	21	11	57	5.26
286	Eastleigh	South East	35	28	32	95	5.21
287	Tonbridge and Malling	South East	24	35	27	86	5.04
288	East Cambridgeshire	East of England	22	21	16	59	4.81
289	Hart	South East	18	22	17	57	4.43
—	BaberghIncomplete Suffolk records	East of England	34	38	31	103	Not ranked
—	City of LondonFewer than 20 fires in three years	London	1	6	5	12	Not ranked
—	East SuffolkIncomplete Suffolk records	East of England	100	85	100	285	Not ranked
—	IpswichIncomplete Suffolk records	East of England	97	57	78	232	Not ranked
—	Isles of ScillyFewer than 20 fires in three years	South West	0	3	1	4	Not ranked
—	Mid SuffolkIncomplete Suffolk records	East of England	35	37	30	102	Not ranked
—	West SuffolkIncomplete Suffolk records	East of England	69	57	54	180	Not ranked

Rank uses unrounded rates; displayed rates have two decimal places. Excluded Suffolk counts are incomplete. Excluded small-area counts are shown for context. On smaller screens, scroll the table sideways.

Download all counts, housing totals and annual rates (CSV)

Where recorded house-fire rates rose and fell

The highest three-year rate and the largest recent increase answer different questions. This comparison uses the first and last years of the study, 2023/24 and 2025/26, to show where recorded rates changed most.

Swindon had the largest increase among the 162 areas in this comparison: from 8.73 to 12.75 fires per 10,000 dwellings, a rise of 4.02. Its recorded fires increased from 89 to 132. Thurrock followed, with a rate increase of 3.98, from 9.71 to 13.69.

Hastings had the largest fall among the eligible areas: from 17.32 to 13.33 fires per 10,000 dwellings, a decrease of 3.99. Its count fell from 77 to 60. Tendring followed, with a decrease of 3.31, from 12.77 to 9.46.

Which areas are compared? We require at least 50 recorded dwelling fires in each endpoint year and complete source data. This leaves 162 council areas, out of the 289 in the main ranking. The threshold limits comparisons based on small counts; it is a study rule, not a statistical significance test. The order uses the absolute change in the rate per 10,000 dwellings, not the percentage change.

The five largest rises and falls in recorded dwelling-fire rates among 162 eligible council areas, comparing 2023/24 with 2025/26. Swindon has the largest rise and Hastings the largest fall; counts and values are in the tables below. — Open circles show 2023/24 and filled circles show 2025/26. Orange lines show rises; teal lines show falls. Rates are fires per 10,000 dwellings.

On small screens, scroll the chart and tables sideways to read every label.

The ten largest recorded rises

Largest rate increases among 162 eligible council areas; rates per 10,000 dwellings
Council area	Fires 2023/24	Fires 2025/26	Rate 2023/24	Rate 2025/26	Rate change
Swindon	89	132	8.73	12.75	+4.02
Thurrock	68	97	9.71	13.69	+3.98
Hammersmith and Fulham	100	136	10.35	13.66	+3.31
Barking and Dagenham	95	124	11.96	15.15	+3.18
Haringey	160	201	13.82	17.00	+3.18
Stockton-on-Tees	72	101	8.05	11.12	+3.07
Great Yarmouth	59	75	11.80	14.80	+3.00
Tameside	89	120	8.48	11.32	+2.84
Colchester	59	83	6.95	9.58	+2.63
Greenwich	153	189	12.39	15.01	+2.62

The ten largest recorded falls

Largest rate decreases among 162 eligible council areas; rates per 10,000 dwellings
Council area	Fires 2023/24	Fires 2025/26	Rate 2023/24	Rate 2025/26	Rate change
Hastings	77	60	17.32	13.33	-3.99
Tendring	95	72	12.77	9.46	-3.31
Torbay	109	87	15.60	12.37	-3.23
Tower Hamlets	216	174	15.29	12.09	-3.20
Exeter	72	57	12.67	9.82	-2.86
Dacorum	71	53	10.53	7.75	-2.78
Cheltenham	77	63	13.46	10.90	-2.57
Portsmouth	121	100	13.25	10.92	-2.34
Wandsworth	185	153	11.97	9.64	-2.34
Sunderland	146	118	11.03	8.81	-2.22

Counts, housing stock and annual variation all affect this comparison. Two endpoint years cannot establish a sustained trend, and a fall cannot be attributed to a particular local policy from these data. These are recorded changes, not proof of a change in a household’s underlying risk. Use the local profile to see the middle year as well.

Download the rate-change data (CSV) · Download the chart (PNG) · Download the chart (SVG)

The highest and lowest rates in every region

A national ranking can hide useful local contrasts. This table shows both ends of the comparison within each of England’s nine regions. Select a council to open its annual figures and local profile.

Annual dwelling fires per 10,000 dwellings · 2023/24–2025/26
Region	Highest recorded rate	Lowest recorded rate	Councils ranked
East Midlands	Nottingham16.64	Derbyshire Dales5.26	35
East of England	Norwich16.48	East Cambridgeshire4.81	40
London	Hackney16.21	Richmond upon Thames8.83	32
North East	Newcastle upon Tyne13.49	North Tyneside7.71	12
North West	Manchester16.70	Cheshire East5.84	35
South East	Hastings15.06	Hart4.43	64
South West	Gloucester14.18	East Devon6.57	26
West Midlands	Birmingham16.15	South Staffordshire5.94	30
Yorkshire and the Humber	Kingston upon Hull, City of13.02	East Riding of Yorkshire6.09	15

Same eligibility rules as the national ranking: 289 councils included, seven excluded. London excludes the City of London; the East of England excludes the five Suffolk councils with incomplete records; the South West excludes the Isles of Scilly. Rankings use unrounded rates and do not establish a statistically significant difference between neighbours.

Download all regional comparisons (CSV)

How the study works

Why does this study cover England rather than the whole UK?

The incident data, dwelling-stock estimates and council boundaries used here cover England. This is not a UK-wide ranking. Adding Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would require comparable fire definitions, reporting periods and housing denominators before their areas could be ranked fairly alongside English councils.

The calculation

We pooled three complete financial years to reduce the influence of a single unusual year. Each year’s fires are paired with the housing stock at the start of that financial year: the 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025 dwelling estimates.

Annual fires per 10,000 dwellings= (fires in 2023/24 + 2024/25 + 2025/26)
÷ (dwellings in March 2023 + March 2024 + March 2025) × 10,000

For example, Manchester’s calculation is 1,208 ÷ 723,525 × 10,000 = 16.70. The denominator sums three annual housing snapshots, so the result is an annualised rate rather than a three-year cumulative rate. We use unrounded dwelling estimates and unrounded rates to assign ranks.

How the changes are compared

The endpoint comparison subtracts each area’s 2023/24 rate from its 2025/26 rate. Each rate divides that year’s fires by the corresponding starting-year dwelling stock and multiplies by 10,000. We calculate from the underlying counts and housing estimates before rounding. Areas must qualify for the main ranking and record at least 50 fires in each endpoint year; 162 areas meet this rule. Ordering by rate-point change avoids giving a very small starting rate disproportionate prominence. The separate CSV includes all 289 main-ranked areas and flags the 127 that do not meet this stricter rule. This is a descriptive, exploratory comparison, without a test of statistical significance or adjustment for multiple comparisons.

Sources and dates

The numerator comes from MHCLG’s low-level geography incident dataset, published 22 July 2026, using records received by 1 May 2026. We select only the category “Primary fire - dwelling”. The denominator is Live Table 125, the unrounded dwelling-stock worksheet released in May 2026. The housing estimates used here are provisional and may be revised.

Consistent council boundaries

We link 2021 Census Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) codes to the corrected ONS May 2024 best-fit lookup, then sum the records for each council area. These are statistical areas on a fixed geography, not a claim that every boundary is unchanged today. Maps use the matching ONS May 2024 boundaries.

For Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire and Somerset, the March 2023 housing figure is the sum of the predecessor districts replaced in the April 2023 reorganisation. The reconstruction and each component are in the audit download. After reconstruction, the 296 council housing totals reconcile exactly to the published England total in all three years.

Which records and areas are excluded?

Suffolk: Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk are not ranked because the source guidance identifies missing incidents from September 2024 to March 2025. Their observed counts remain in the download and table, clearly flagged as incomplete.
Small counts: we require at least 20 fires across the three years for the main ranking. This rule excludes City of London (12) and Isles of Scilly (4). It limits unstable comparisons but is not a statistical significance test.
Unmatched locations: 14 dwelling-fire records cannot be allocated through the English lookup: 13 have an unknown location code and one has a Welsh LSOA code. They are omitted from council totals, without guessing a location.

Checks and limitations

The source contains 25,592 dwelling fires for 2023/24, 25,465 for 2024/25 and 26,180 for 2025/26. These reconcile to allocated records plus the 14 unmatched records. The later October 2026 version of FIRE0202 reports 25,592, 25,466 and 26,210 respectively. Those later revisions cannot be assigned to councils from this release, so this study consistently uses the July incident dataset rather than mixing versions.

Fires are recorded incidents, not unique properties. A fire affecting multiple dwellings and repeat incidents at the same address do not translate directly into households affected. Rates are not adjusted for building type, household characteristics, deprivation or reporting differences; the study does not establish what causes a higher or lower rate. Separate chimney fires and incidents outside the selected category are excluded.

Starting-year housing stock is an approximation of homes exposed over the year and includes vacant dwellings. There is no claim of statistical significance between neighbouring ranks. The recording system changed from IRS to FaRDaP in November 2025, and official records and estimates can be revised. This is an independent analysis by Fire Warden Training, not an official government ranking.

Local awareness, practical action

A low area rate does not make an individual home fireproof. A high rate does not explain the cause or identify a particular household’s risk.

For practical advice, use the government’s fire safety in the home guidance and your local fire and rescue service. Our home fire safety visit statistics explain the wider prevention activity.

Use the figures in your reporting

The full table, charts and calculation notes are available below. Please retain the period, rate definition and exclusions when reporting the results.

Rises and fallsCSV – annual rates, changes and eligibility Rate-change chartPNG – five largest rises and falls Lowest 10 chartPNG · ready for editorial use Council dataCSV · counts, housing and annual rates Highest 10 chartPNG · ready for editorial use England mapPNG · council rates and legend Calculation auditJSON · joins, exclusions and source hashes

Writing about this research?

Please credit Fire Warden Training and include a link to this study when using our analysis, rankings, charts or map. This helps readers check the original figures, sources and methodology.

Suggested credit: Source: Fire Warden Training, England’s House-Fire Hotspots (2026), analysis of MHCLG data with ONS geography.

Our original analysis and charts are available under CC BY 4.0. Underlying government and ONS material retains its Open Government Licence terms and the attribution shown on the map. For questions or corrections, contact Fire Warden Training.

Data sources and supporting research

Sources checked on 7 November 2026. The original fire-rate calculation, the later national cross-check and the explanatory research are listed separately so the figures can be traced to the version used.

MHCLG: low-level geography fire incidents
Primary dwelling-fire records for 2023/24–2025/26, from the 22 July 2026 release. Exact source download.
MHCLG: low-level geography dataset guidance
Definitions, recording limitations and the missing Suffolk records.
MHCLG: dwelling stock, Live Table 125
Unrounded dwelling estimates at 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025. Exact source download.
ONS: corrected LSOA 2021 to council 2024 lookup
Best-fit allocation of incident locations to consistent May 2024 council boundaries. Exact source download.
ONS: May 2024 council boundaries
Generalised boundaries used to draw the map. Exact source download.
MHCLG: fire statistics tables, FIRE0202
October 2026 national totals used to document later revisions, not to replace the July council records. Exact source download.
Government guidance: local government structure
Context for the April 2023 council reorganisations and housing-stock reconstruction.
MHCLG: English Indices of Deprivation 2025
Corrected File 10 v2: council-level IMD rank of average score, used only for the contextual comparison. Exact source download.
Taylor and colleagues: deprivation and accidental dwelling fires in Greater Manchester
Fire and Materials, published 12 March 2026; study period 2013/14–2023/24. Supporting research, not an input to the rankings.
MHCLG: detailed fire analysis, year ending March 2026
National context on ignition sources and fatalities; not a council-level cause breakdown.
Government guidance: fire safety in the home
Practical safety guidance linked from the article.

Original source URLs and file checksums · Context sources and deprivation workbook checksum

England’s house-fire hotspots

Manchester records the highest rate; Hart the lowest

Highest recorded rates

Lowest recorded rates

Why do some areas record more house fires?

Manchester: a higher rate, rather than the most fires

Hart and other lower-rate areas

What might sit behind the pattern?

A fairer comparison than raw fire counts

Explore England’s house-fire rates

Your local fire profile

How the figures changed over three years

The ten highest recorded rates

The ten lowest recorded rates

Find your council area

Where recorded house-fire rates rose and fell

The ten largest recorded rises

The ten largest recorded falls

The highest and lowest rates in every region

How the study works

Why does this study cover England rather than the whole UK?

The calculation

How the changes are compared

Sources and dates

Consistent council boundaries

Which records and areas are excluded?

Checks and limitations

Local awareness, practical action

Use the figures in your reporting

Writing about this research?

Data sources and supporting research

Manchester records the highest rate; Hart the lowest

Highest recorded rates

Lowest recorded rates

Why do some areas record more house fires?

Manchester: a higher rate, rather than the most fires

Hart and other lower-rate areas

What might sit behind the pattern?

A fairer comparison than raw fire counts

Explore England’s house-fire rates

Your local fire profile

How the figures changed over three years

The ten highest recorded rates

The ten lowest recorded rates

Find your council area

Where recorded house-fire rates rose and fell

The ten largest recorded rises

The ten largest recorded falls

The highest and lowest rates in every region

How the study works

Why does this study cover England rather than the whole UK?

The calculation

How the changes are compared

Sources and dates

Consistent council boundaries

Which records and areas are excluded?

Checks and limitations

Local awareness, practical action

More fire-safety resources

Use the figures in your reporting

Writing about this research?

Data sources and supporting research