Public First worked with the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods to conduct opinion research around public attitudes to the state of the neighbourhoods.  Our report, linked here, featured in their interim report.

We conducted a nationally representative survey of 4,051 adults in England, between the 31st January and the 5th February 2025.

Public First also ran focus groups alongside the polling. We selected constituencies which included neighbourhoods with a high level of hyper-local need – selected using the Hyper-Local Need Measure – in a range of areas. These included coastal, town and city locations across England. All seats selected were also deemed as electorally important ‘swing seats’.

We found 6 key takeaways:

Neighbourhood units are small. Neighbourhoods are perceived in hyper-local terms, especially in lower quintile communities.

Perceptions match reality. People accurately perceive whether their neighbourhood is in a better or worse state than others, showing that policy resulting in outcomes people can see and feel in their neighbourhoods is likely to be rewarded.

Driving divide issues are smaller + visual. The issues that divide perceptions of whether a neighbourhood is good or bad tend to be more cosmetic, like litter and vandalism, rather than structural, implying that perceptions could be relatively easily improved.

Some community pride and hope persists. Compared to national disengagement and cynicism, an albeit significantly wounded pride in hyper-local communities remains, providing a foundation for enacting neighbourhood-level change.

Political rewards possible. The political segment most likely to feel neighbourhood decline are Reform UK voters, so improvements at this level are a key part of winning back their trust.

See the full ICON interim report here

Full tables are available here