Residents' Survey 2026: results

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The annual Residents’ Survey measures how satisfied residents are with life in the borough and the services provided by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. The findings help us to understand how we are delivering against our Corporate Plan and compare our performance across years; but more importantly they help us improve our understanding of the residents’ views and allow us to design services that meet their needs.

The survey was conducted over four weeks at the beginning of 2026. The survey followed industry standard (Local Government Association) Resident Survey questions and covered key themes including:

Satisfaction with life in the borough
Satisfaction with Council services and communications
Satisfaction with the accessibility of the Council services
Feelings of social cohesion and safety
Feelings of loneliness and isolation
Awareness of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Methodology

A total of 10,000 randomly selected households across the borough received a postal invitation to take part in the survey, either online or by post. A target sample size of 780 was selected so that we could have confidence that views were representative of the borough’s population (at a 95% confidence level).

The survey was also made available to residents more generally, including promotion through social media, online advertising, posters, paper questionnaires in community centres, and emails to subscribers and partners. A prize draw incentive was offered.

In total, the survey received 820 responses from residents aged 18 and over, with a margin of error of ±3.4% at a 95% confidence level.

The final sample achieved a good level of demographic representation. Weighting was used in order to make the results more representative of the demographic make-up of the borough using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates (Weighting adjusts survey results so they better reflect the whole population. If certain groups, such as younger residents, respond less, their answers are given more weight to match their actual share of the community. Weighting ensures the findings represent Reigate & Banstead residents overall, not just those who responded). This was done separately across genders and prioritised balancing age groups while also maintaining accuracy of the data.

Headline results

Overall satisfaction with local area – 74%
Overall satisfaction with Reigate and Banstead Borough Council – 59%
Waste, recycling, and street cleaning services were among the highest-rated, with 73% satisfaction
Perception of safety – around 85% feel safe during the day and 56% during the night

For a detailed question-by-question findings, please see the summary below. For a full breakdown of results, please refer to the Power BI dashboard.

Interactive dashboard

Owing to the rounding of numbers, percentages displayed within this report may not always add up to 100% and may differ slightly when compared with the Power BI dashboard.

Satisfaction with local area

Overall satisfaction

Respondents were asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with life in their local area. 74% of residents were satisfied with life in their local area (24% very satisfied, 50% fairly satisfied). 13% were dissatisfied, while 12% remained neutral). The satisfaction score has improved by 6 points compared to the 2025 residents’ survey.

Life satisfaction

Respondents were asked to indicate their satisfaction with specific aspects of life in their local area. Satisfaction levels varied across different aspects. Education received the highest satisfaction at 59%, followed by wellbeing (physical and mental health) at 38%, and local economy at 35%. Roads and public Transport along with affordability were rated less positively, with nearly half of respondents dissatisfied. Activities for young people and support for older people received mixed feedback, with between 31% and 36% respectively dissatisfied.

Satisfaction with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Overall satisfaction

Respondents were asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with the council. 59% of residents were satisfied with the council, while 22% were neutral and 19% dissatisfied.

Satisfaction with council services

Respondents were asked to indicate their satisfaction with specific council services:

Waste, recycling, and street cleaning services were among the highest-rated, with 73% satisfaction
Parks and greenspaces managed by the council also performed well at 69% followed by sports and leisure at 56%
The satisfaction score for community events and council operated car parks remained consistent with the previous year’s scores at around 40%
Housing and support for businesses and town centres received satisfaction levels of around one-third
Benefits and financial support were rated less positively with the satisfaction score being at 25%

Perceptions of the council

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which the council acts on the concerns of residents. 42% of respondents said the council is responsive to local concerns, while another 43% reported not very much or no responsiveness.

When asked how they speak about the council, 36% said they speak positively with or without being asked, and 23% said they speak negatively.

30% felt that the council provides value for money. 38% believed the council operates in an environmentally responsible way, with a large proportion remaining neutral.

Communications

Respondents were asked to indicate the communication channel that they had used to contact the council (if they had been in contact within the previous six months). 40% of respondents had not contacted the council in the past six months.

Among those who had contacted, 48% rated the ease of finding communication channels as good or great and 52% rated the use of communication channels as good or great.

54% gave similar ratings for customer service.

55% felt fairly or very well informed about council services and benefits.

Cohesion and safety

Residents were asked to respond to a series of statements to indicate their sense of belonging to their local area. 63% of residents felt they belong to their local area, 60% believed people from different backgrounds treat each other with respect and 50% felt that people in the local area pull together to improve the local area.

Respondents were also asked to indicate how safe they felt when outside in their local area and local town centre, both during the day and at night. During daylight hours, 83% of residents felt safe in their local area and 86% in town centres. At night, these figures dropped to 54% and 57% respectively.

When asked to indicate the extent to which different anti-social behaviours were a problem in their community, rubbish and litter lying around was identified as the most common issue, with 43% of respondents saying it was either a very big problem (14%) or a fairly big problem (29%). People using or dealing drugs was the next most reported issue, with 28% saying it was a very big problem (10%) or a fairly big problem (18%). Noisy neighbours or loud parties were the least reported issue, with 10% saying it was a problem.

Loneliness and isolation

Respondents were asked to respond to a series of statements to indicate feelings of isolation and loneliness.

More than three-quarters (76%) said they spoke with or spent time with friends, family or neighbours daily or at least a few times a week. Only 10% reported often or always lacking companionship, compared with 65% who said they rarely or never felt this way. Similarly, around 70% said they rarely or never felt isolated from others, and a comparable proportion said they rarely or never felt left out.

The result by age shows that around 15% of over-65s in report low or no social contact. This rises to 22% among 18–30-year-olds and 27% among those aged 31–64, suggesting that younger age groups are experiencing higher levels of social disconnection than might be expected.

Local Government Reorganisation

Respondents were asked about their awareness of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and how they would prefer to receive future communications about it. Overall, most residents reported at least some awareness of LGR, with 28% saying they were fully aware and a further 48% somewhat aware.

Email was the most preferred channel for future communications about LGR, selected by 34% of respondents, followed by the RBBC website (25%) and social media (16%).

Satisfaction with accessibility of council services

An optional question this year asked respondents to comment on the accessibility of selected council services.

Based on 308 responses, satisfaction levels varied across services. Parks, greenspaces and allotments recorded the highest proportion of satisfaction overall, with half of respondents (50%) saying they were very or fairly satisfied.

Community centres and leisure facilities (45% satisfied), together with the Council’s online services (43% satisfied), also recorded higher levels of satisfaction than dissatisfaction.

Responses relating to public toilets and town centre pavements, crossings and pathways showed lower levels of satisfaction (20%) and higher levels of dissatisfaction (57%).

Views on Council-operated car parks were more evenly balanced, with similar proportions of respondents expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction, while around a quarter selected neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.