The name "Mid Sussex" was occasionally used for various parts of central Sussex prior to 1974, including as an alternative name for the Lewes constituency created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and as a joint water district established in 1907.[2]
The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of seven districts within West Sussex. The new district covered the whole area of three former districts and most of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time:[3][4]
The new district was named Mid Sussex, reflecting its position within the historic county.[5] All of the areas which made up Mid Sussex were in East Sussex prior to 1974; as part of the reforms that year they were transferred to West Sussex. The change of county was not without controversy; the government's rationale for the change was that it brought the projected major economic area centred on Crawley and Gatwick Airport under the supervision of one county council.[6]
In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the South Downs National Park Authority. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.[11]
Political control
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being run by a minority administration of the Liberal Democrats and some of the independent councillors, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Robert Eggleston.[12]
The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13]
Four of the five independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats.[18][12] The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 27 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[19]
The council is based at Oaklands, in Haywards Heath, which was originally a large Victorian house and had served as the headquarters of the old Cuckfield Urban District Council (which had included Haywards Heath) since 1934. The building has been substantially extended.[20]
The district is divided into 24 civil parishes. The parish councils for Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". The small parish of Newtimber has a parish meeting rather than a parish council.[21] Hassocks is a post town but has a parish council rather than a town council.
Home ownership
Homes owned by their occupants, with or without a loan, make up more than 85% of Mid Sussex housing. Mid Sussex's residents had the lowest burden of social housing, at 0.5% of housing stock, at the time of the census, a district which is approximately 30 minutes by its fast railway services from the area with the highest such proportion covering London Bridge station, the London Borough of Southwark (having 31.2% social housing) and from a creative and self-declared, progressive authority with 9.8% social housing and 28% of its housing privately rented, Brighton and Hove.
In terms of rented housing Mid Sussex at the 2011 census ranked 216th out of in terms of 327 local authorities in England. The proportion of homes which were rented as investments by non-occupants was higher than several other semi-rural districts of Sussex, with 11.7% of housing stock speculatively acquired in this way or to provide for those unable to obtain mortgage finance and 1.0% was let out to residents on either public or private shared ownership schemes, close to the national average. These figures are those of the 2011 census.[22]
