Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Lisburn and Castlereagh is a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was created on 1 April 2015. It consists of the combined area of the City of Lisburn with the Borough of Castlereagh, but not including "the localities of Gilnahirk, Tullycarnet, Braniel, Castlereagh, Merok, Cregagh, Wynchurch, Glencregagh and Belvoir, Collin Glen, Poleglass, Lagmore, Twinbrook, Kilwee and Dunmurry" which transferred to Belfast. The local authority is officially known as the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, or abbreviated to LCCC.
Political Control & Leadership
- Political control
- DUPLargest party
- Last election
- 2023
Overview
- Population
- 151,669
- Website
- lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk
Finance
- District rate (NI)
- 0.3966p 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
1,840 people claiming unemployment-related benefits, August 2026
2.0% of residents aged 16 to 64 · −35 on August 2025
| August 2026 | Claimants | % aged 16 to 64 |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 960 | 2.1% |
| Women | 880 | 1.9% |
Yearly and recent figures
| Month | Claimants | % aged 16 to 64 |
|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 1,840 | 2.0% |
| July 2026 | 1,735 | 1.9% |
| June 2026 | 1,725 | 1.9% |
| May 2026 | 1,720 | 1.8% |
| April 2026 | 1,770 | 1.9% |
| March 2026 | 1,815 | 1.9% |
| February 2026 | 1,810 | 1.9% |
| January 2026 | 1,770 | 1.9% |
| December 2025 | 1,735 | 1.9% |
| November 2025 | 1,885 | 2.0% |
| October 2025 | 1,985 | 2.1% |
| September 2025 | 1,900 | 2.0% |
| August 2025 | 1,875 | 2.0% |
| July 2025 | 1,850 | 2.0% |
| June 2025 | 1,825 | 2.0% |
| May 2025 | 1,785 | 1.9% |
| April 2025 | 1,875 | 2.0% |
| March 2025 | 1,865 | 2.0% |
| February 2025 | 1,950 | 2.1% |
| January 2025 | 1,830 | 2.0% |
| December 2024 | 1,885 | 2.0% |
| November 2024 | 1,980 | 2.1% |
| October 2024 | 2,085 | 2.2% |
| September 2024 | 2,150 | 2.3% |
| August 2026 | 1,840 | 2.0% |
| August 2025 | 1,875 | 2.0% |
| August 2024 | 2,090 | 2.2% |
| August 2023 | 1,775 | 1.9% |
| August 2022 | 1,825 | 2.0% |
| August 2021 | 2,640 | 2.8% |
| August 2020 | 3,475 | 3.8% |
| August 2019 | 1,380 | 1.5% |
| August 2018 | 1,250 | 1.4% |
| August 2017 | 1,385 | 1.5% |
| August 2016 | 1,690 | 1.9% |
| August 2015 | 2,035 | 2.3% |
| August 2014 | 2,340 | 2.6% |
| August 2013 | 2,915 | 3.3% |
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
| Year | Children | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 3,536 | 11.7% |
| 2022-23 | 3,888 | 12.8% |
| 2023-24 | 3,850 | 12.7% |
| 2024-25 | 3,907 | 12.9% |
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
£240,737 average house price, July 2026
+9.7% over 12 months · +3.6% over 1 month · 171 sales in May 2026
Yearly figures
| July 2005 | £136,939 |
| July 2006 | £177,723 |
| July 2007 | £258,649 |
| July 2008 | £182,264 |
| July 2009 | £156,320 |
| July 2010 | £153,928 |
| July 2011 | £130,632 |
| July 2012 | £120,085 |
| July 2013 | £118,670 |
| July 2014 | £123,961 |
| July 2015 | £134,665 |
| July 2016 | £143,647 |
| July 2017 | £146,548 |
| July 2018 | £152,536 |
| July 2019 | £157,852 |
| July 2020 | £163,552 |
| July 2021 | £174,858 |
| July 2022 | £196,605 |
| July 2023 | £199,079 |
| July 2024 | £212,871 |
| July 2025 | £225,847 |
| July 2026 | £240,737 |
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
5,606 crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026
37.0 per 1,000 residents · Up 9.0% on the previous 12 months
Monthly figures
| September 2025 | 422 |
| October 2025 | 457 |
| November 2025 | 410 |
| December 2025 | 465 |
| January 2026 | 401 |
| February 2026 | 424 |
| March 2026 | 481 |
| April 2026 | 501 |
| May 2026 | 525 |
| June 2026 | 479 |
| July 2026 | 588 |
| August 2026 | 453 |
| Type of crime | Crimes | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Violence without injury | 1,070 | 7.1 |
| Criminal damage | 757 | 5.0 |
| Violence with injury (including homicide & death/serious injury by unlawful driving) | 665 | 4.4 |
| Theft - shoplifting | 639 | 4.2 |
| Possession of drugs | 537 | 3.5 |
| Stalking and Harassment | 472 | 3.1 |
| All other theft offences | 447 | 2.9 |
| Sexual offences | 304 | 2.0 |
| Miscellaneous crimes against society | 214 | 1.4 |
| Theft - vehicle offences | 139 | 0.9 |
| Theft - burglary residential | 136 | 0.9 |
| Possession of weapons offences | 59 | 0.4 |
| Theft - burglary business & community | 56 | 0.4 |
| Public order offences | 44 | 0.3 |
| Trafficking of drugs | 31 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | 15 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | 12 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | 6 | 0.0 |
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)
- 80.4 years2020 to 2022 · ONS
- Life expectancy (female)
- 83.1 years2020 to 2022 · ONS
Broadband and mobile
96.4% of 67,906 homes and businesses can get gigabit-capable broadband, January 2026
23 premises can't get decent broadband · 61% of premises use full fibre
| Superfast (30 Mbit/s or more) | 99.5% |
| Ultrafast (100 Mbit/s or more) | 96.4% |
| Ultrafast (300 Mbit/s or more) | 96.4% |
| Gigabit-capable (1,000 Mbit/s) | 96.4% |
| Full fibre to the premises | 95.4% |
| Can’t get 10 Mbit/s | 0.1% |
| Can’t get decent broadbandfrom a fixed line or fixed wireless | 0.0% |
| 4G indoors from at least one networkshare of premises | 99.8% |
| 4G indoors from all four networksshare of premises | 83.7% |
| 4G outdoors from at least one networkshare of premises | 100.0% |
| 5G outdoors from at least one networkshare of premises | 99.8% |
| Indoor phone calls from at least one networkshare of premises | 100.0% |
| Land with no outdoor 4G from any networkshare of the area | 0.0% |
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
122 hours of sewage spills from 4 storm overflows in 2025
151 spills counted · 4 of 4 overflows with figures spilled at least once · 11th 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.
Every overflow in this area
| Overflow | Company | Spills | Hours | Monitor working |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comber Road Dundonald WwPS | NI Water | 29 | 61 | 100% |
| Comber Road Shop Centre CSO | NI Water | 65 | 45 | 100% |
| Brooklands Crescent CSO | NI Water | 51 | 12 | 100% |
| Antrim Street CSO | NI Water | 6 | 4 | 100% |
| Year | Overflows reporting | Spills | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 of 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 of 4 | 132 | 193 |
| 2025 | 4 of 4 | 151 | 122 |
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. Compare every council, constituency and water company.
Source: NI Water, Event Duration Monitor data (2025 figures). Council areas as given by NI Water.