What it's like to live in Littlehampton

Arun is a strongly owner-occupied district: 71.2% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage, 18.2% are privately rented and just 9.3% are social rented. That is well below the England figure of 17.1%, so social housing here is in shorter supply than in many areas, which is exactly why mutual exchange matters.

Arun District Council is the largest social landlord with 3,483 homes, followed by Southern Housing with 1,364, Worthing Homes with 625, Clarion with 537 and Hyde with 480. Average weekly social rents in the district for 2024/25 were £101 for a one bed, £122 for a two bed and £136 for a three bed.

The population skews older than the national average, with 26.6% aged 45 to 64 and only 15.3% under 16. At the end of March 2025 there were 1,655 households on the council's housing register, and 568 social homes were let through the council that year, with 33 council homes moved through mutual exchange.

There is a good spread of primary schools close in. River Beach Primary School is around the corner from the station area, with White Meadows Primary Academy and St Catherine's Catholic Primary School both about half a mile out, and Lyminster Primary School a short walk further. The Flintstone Centre sits right in the middle of town.

For secondary, The Littlehampton Academy is just over half a mile away and Cornfield School is closer still. The Angmering School, 2.6 miles east, is within reach by train or bus for families who want another option. Having three secondaries in range is a real advantage when you are swapping blind into a new area.

Beyond school, the K2 Youth and Community Centre and AYP Connect run things for young people, and Littlehampton Library is a short walk from the centre. Rustington, East Preston and Angmering libraries add to that if you are at the edge of town. The beach itself is the free entertainment most families here lean on.

Littlehampton station is about a third of a mile from the centre, and there are two more stops within a mile at Norfolk Gardens and Mewsbrook Park. Ford, a couple of miles away, is a junction station, and Angmering is 2.3 miles east. That gives you real choice along the coast line without needing a car for every journey.

The town is flat and compact, which makes walking genuinely practical. Supermarkets, pharmacies, the library and the cinema all sit within half a mile of the middle, so plenty of households here manage shopping and school runs on foot.

By car, the coast road links you east towards Worthing and west towards Chichester, with routes inland towards Arundel and the A27. Parking and summer traffic can test your patience, as they do in most seaside towns. Buses run around the town and out to nearby villages, so check the specific route for where you would live before deciding: coverage is better near the centre than on the edges.

The beach and the riverside are the heart of it. Add in Rosemead Park, Caffyn's Field, Linden Rec and Hedgehog Hollow and there is plenty of outdoor space for walks, kickabouts and dog-walking without needing to drive anywhere.

The Windmill cinema is under half a mile from the centre, which is unusual for a town this size and worth having. For eating and drinking, the older pubs cluster tightly in the middle: The George Inn, The Dolphin, The Crown and The White Hart are all within a couple of hundred metres, with The Lemon Tree nearby. It makes for a sociable centre rather than one that empties after the shops close.

If you want a gym, Lanes Health Club is about two miles away and Earth Studio a little further, so you will probably travel for that. Community venues like the Wickbourne Centre and St Peter and St Paul Church Hall host the sort of local groups and classes that make a new town feel like home faster.

Across the wider Arun district, 52.4% of adults are in work, below the England figure of 57.4%. That is partly explained by the age profile: 28.4% of residents are 65 or over, well above the national 18.4%, so a smaller share of the population is of working age.

Unemployment in Arun is low at 2.6%, under the 3.5% England average, and unemployment-related benefit claims stood at 3.7% of 16 to 64 year olds in August 2026, just below the England rate of 4%. In short, work is not easy to come by in huge volume locally, but those who want it tend to find it.

Zachary Merton Hospital is 1.7 miles away, and retail, schools and council services are all visible employers in and around the town. Many residents commute along the coast line to Worthing, Brighton or Chichester, which is where the rail links really earn their keep. If you work shifts, check the train timetable carefully before committing.