Burglaries in Sussex fell 13 per cent, but fewer than 1 in 20 at homes led to a charge

Recorded burglary in Sussex fell by 13 per cent in the year to March 2026, but fewer than one in 20 residential burglaries ended with someone being charged or summonsed, according to Home Office figures updated on 22 October 2026. The force’s burglary performance was an item at the police and crime commissioner’s performance and accountability meeting on 15 October, where Assistant Chief Constable Rosie Ross and the commissioner, Katy Bourne, are listed as the speakers.

Recorded burglaries. 4,480 in 2025 to 2026, down from 5,167 the year before. That is 687 fewer, or 13 per cent.

Homes and sheds. Residential burglaries fell from 3,100 to 2,731, down 12 per cent.

Businesses. Non-residential burglaries fell from 2,067 to 1,749, down 15 per cent.

Charged or summonsed. 127 of the 2,731 residential burglaries (5 per cent) and 158 of the 1,749 non-residential burglaries (9 per cent).

What the figures show

These numbers come from the Home Office’s police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables, which give each force’s recorded crimes and what happened to them. They count burglaries recorded by the police, not every burglary that happens, and they include attempts. Residential burglary covers homes and buildings in their grounds such as sheds and garages. The year runs from April 2025 to March 2026.

Burglary fell faster in Sussex than across England and Wales as a whole, according to the same tables. Nationally, recorded burglary dropped by about 9 per cent, from 244,608 to 222,980, with residential burglary down about 7 per cent and non-residential down about 12 per cent. Burglary of a home itself, leaving out attempts and sheds, fell more slowly in Sussex than the headline total, from 1,477 to 1,365, or 8 per cent. The first three months of 2026 to 2027 show 946 burglaries recorded in Sussex against 1,090 in the same months a year earlier, a fall of 13 per cent. Across England and Wales the equivalent fall was 2 per cent.

How many get solved

For burglaries recorded in 2025 to 2026, the Home Office tables show that police in Sussex had charged or summonsed someone in 4.7 per cent of residential cases and 9.0 per cent of non-residential cases at the time of the update. The comparable figures for England and Wales are 5.5 per cent and 9.9 per cent. The Home Office counts out-of-court disposals and offences taken into consideration separately from charges, and adding them brings the Sussex figure to 5.8 per cent for residential burglary and 10.2 per cent for non-residential burglary.

Most residential cases ended without anyone being identified. The tables show 2,124 of the 2,731 recorded residential burglaries, or 78 per cent, were closed as “investigation complete, no suspect identified”. A further 334 cases, or 12 per cent, were closed because of evidential difficulties, for example where a suspect was named but the evidence fell short or the victim did not support action. 100 residential cases had no outcome recorded yet, so the charge figures can still rise for crimes recorded late in the year.

Sussex Police gave its own burglary figures to the commissioner on 15 October. The meeting is published as video only, so we are not reporting them, and the force may count crimes slightly differently from the Home Office. The figures above are the Home Office’s own.

What happens next

The Home Office updates these tables each quarter and publishes a yearly bulletin on crime outcomes in England and Wales. The commissioner’s next performance and accountability meeting is on 19 November 2026. Sussex Police has not published a target for the share of burglaries it aims to solve, and we will update this report if it does.