Residential - The 60’ and 70’s brought significant changes to the town with a marked increase in house building. Large tracts of farm and woodland were turned into housing estates bringing the population up into the 20,000’s. This is now over 23,000 and will rise to 24,000 as more land is developed. The addition of 1000 homes at Bolnore Village, a residential development that was planned as a self contained community on the southwest edge of town, with shops, community centre, recreational sports facilities and school, has helped increase the population of the town. The first three phases have been completed and the plans for phases 4 and 5 are in the pipeline, which will mean another 300+ homes. The “village” also has its own comprehensive network of cycle paths, walk ways and public transport. The speed limit throughout its roads is 20 MPH to make a safe environment for its inhabitants. The development is served by the relief road on its outer perimeter, which will eventually be the A272 once the arc around the south west of the town is complete. This will take the main A road away from the centre of the town giving through traffic a quicker passage from one side of the town to the other.

The development of the new “village” funded the first half of the relief road, the other half will be financed by yet more housing on the hospital grounds to the south of the town. Here the former St Francis Hospital has been turned into houses and flats and re-named Southdowns Park, due to the lovely views it enjoys of the South Downs.

Again due to the 2008/9 recession that hit the country and especially the building industry, many of the plans are on hold and the town is still awaiting the completion of the relief road.

Throughout the town more developments of flats have been built with many more planned once house building gets started again. The flat dwellings are infilling the smallest of sites many on former gardens. Mainly one and two bedrooms units, these homes are particularly popular for the many single people and couples new to the area, who commute daily to London, Croyden or Gatwick Airport or work in the local hospitals. However, a “Healthcheck” survey of the town showed concerns that flats were outnumbering family homes. It is felt that Haywards Heath is essentially a family oriented town and this must not be lost in the bid to provide more housing units.