Derry City and Strabane District Council

Political Control & Leadership

Political control

Sinn FéinLargest party

Leader

Grace Uí Niallais

Last election

2023

Overview

Population

152,383

Website

derrystrabane.com

Finance

District rate (NI)

0.6655p per £ of capital valueNorthern Ireland has no council tax. This is the portion of domestic rates set by the council; a regional rate set by Stormont (5.559p in 2026/27) is added on top to produce the final bill.

Claimant count

3,870 people claiming unemployment-related benefits, August 2026

4.1% of residents aged 16 to 64 · −640 on August 2025

The Claimant Count is people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance plus people on Universal Credit who are required to look for work. Before 2013 it counted only Unemployment Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants, so earlier years are not strictly comparable. Universal Credit requires more people to search for work than Jobseeker’s Allowance did, so as it replaced older benefits from 2013, part of the rise in the count reflects that change rather than more unemployment. It is not the official unemployment rate, which comes from a survey. The latest month can be revised. Figures for this council start in January 2013.

Source: Office for National Statistics, Claimant Count (via Nomis). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Welfare spending

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Child poverty

Children under 16 living in low-income families, 2024-25

A child is counted if their family’s income is below 60% of the UK median for that year and the family claimed Child Benefit plus at least one other benefit (Universal Credit, tax credits or Housing Benefit). The two measures can differ a lot: housing costs push the after-housing-costs figure far higher in expensive areas such as London. Figures are provisional and years before 2021-22 are not comparable, so the trend starts there.

Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Children in Low Income Families: local area statistics (FYE 2022 to 2025, published 26 March 2026).

House prices

£189,474 average house price, July 2026

+12.4% over 12 months · +2.2% over 1 month · 97 sales in May 2026

Average prices are HM Land Registry’s estimates for the whole area, adjusted for the mix of homes sold, not the price of any one home. Figures for the latest months are provisional: sales can take weeks or months to be registered, so each month is revised for a year after it is first published. Sales counts are published about three months behind prices. In areas with fewer sales, figures can swing noticeably from month to month. Land Registry does not publish a breakdown by type of home or buyer for Northern Ireland councils.

Source: HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index (July 2026 data). Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Crime

9,046 crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026

59.4 per 1,000 residents · Down 7.6% on the previous 12 months

Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland, Police Recorded Crime monthly tables. PSNI’s 11 policing districts cover the same areas as Northern Ireland’s 11 councils.

Crime figures last updated 11 October 2026.

Public Health

Smoking (adults)

No data availableNot currently published at local authority level for Northern Ireland.

Physically active (adults)

No data availableNot currently published at local authority level for Northern Ireland.

Overweight or obese (adults)

No data availableNot currently published at local authority level for Northern Ireland.

Life expectancy (male)

77.5 years2020 to 2022 · ONS

Life expectancy (female)

81.5 years2020 to 2022 · ONS

Broadband and mobile

94.9% of 69,311 homes and businesses can get gigabit-capable broadband, January 2026

149 premises can't get decent broadband · 60% of premises use full fibre

These figures show what is available, not what people buy. “Decent” broadband means 10 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload, the standard set by the broadband Universal Service Obligation. Full-fibre use is the share of all premises with a full-fibre connection in use. Mobile figures count the four networks Ofcom reports (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone) and are modelled predictions of signal strength; 5G figures use Ofcom’s high-confidence measure.

Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations (January 2026 data). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Sewage spills

3,842 hours of sewage spills from 63 storm overflows in 2025

1,696 spills counted · 56 of 62 overflows with figures spilled at least once · 5th most spill hours of 11 council areas in Northern Ireland

Storm overflows are run by water companies, not by the council. The company responsible here is NI Water.

The 15 overflows with the longest spills

A storm overflow releases diluted sewage into a river or the sea when sewers are overloaded, usually in heavy rain. Hours are the total time all spills lasted. 1 overflow has no figures for 2025, so the totals may be lower than the true amount. Compare every council, constituency and water company.

Source: NI Water, Event Duration Monitor data (2025 figures). Council areas as given by NI Water.