Arson Statistics UK: 2026 Facts, Data & Key Insights

Arson in the UK: A Persistent and Underpoliced Crime

Arson is one of the most costly and least effectively policed crimes in the UK. Between January 2022 and December 2024, 65,053 arson offences were recorded across the forces that provided data — yet only 4.83% of these cases resulted in charges. In twelve police force areas, 69% of arson investigations were closed with no suspect identified. The Metropolitan Police recorded 6,411 arson incidents in London alone — the highest of any force in the country — while the international fire safety community notes that the charge rate gap between arson and other serious property crimes represents a significant justice failure.

For the broader fire context see our Fire Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide.

Key Facts & Figures (Overview)

The Scale of Arson in the UK

Arson is a broad crime category that encompasses everything from a child setting fire to a bin to a calculated act of industrial sabotage. UK arson incidents fall into several distinct categories:

Deliberate outdoor fires: The largest category by volume — vehicles, bins, wasteland, and outdoor structures deliberately ignited. These constitute a significant proportion of the MHCLG's secondary fire statistics.

Commercial arson: Deliberate ignition of business premises, often motivated by revenge, insurance fraud, or organised crime. CheckFire's analysis of Home Office data identified nearly 1,100 arson incidents in non-domestic sectors in 2024, with the hospitality sector recording the highest number (approximately 400 incidents).

Residential arson: Deliberate fires set in or around domestic premises. Often linked to domestic disputes, neighbourhood conflicts, or targeted attacks.

Vehicle arson: A persistent and significant category, particularly in urban areas.

Foreign interference: An emerging category brought to public attention in 2024, when a man pleaded guilty to an arson attack on a Leyton warehouse in connection with Russian intelligence activity — highlighting that deliberately set fires can be used as instruments of state-level hostile action.

The Justice Gap: Why Arson Goes Unpunished

The freedom of information data gathered from 36 police forces reveals a justice system failing to hold arsonists accountable:

Arrest rates: Only 16% of arson incidents across forces providing data led to an arrest. This compares extremely unfavourably to arrest rates for other serious crimes.

Charge rates: Only 4.83% of recorded offences resulted in a charge — leaving 95% of reported arson cases with no criminal justice outcome.

Investigation closures: Twelve forces reported that 69% of their arson investigations were closed with no suspect identified. In South Yorkshire, the figure reached 80% — four in five arson investigations closed without a named suspect.

Wiltshire had the highest charge conversion rate of any force that provided data, charging suspects in 10.5% of 381 reported cases — still barely one in ten cases.

Essex Police recorded 3,212 arson investigations in the period but issued only two charges — a charge rate of approximately 0.06%.

The low charge and conviction rates reflect several structural challenges: arson scenes are frequently damaged or destroyed by the fire, destroying forensic evidence; witnesses are often absent; and matching fire investigation findings to criminal prosecution standards of proof is technically demanding.

Who Sets Fires: Offender Profile

Data from forces that provided demographic information reveals consistent patterns in arson offending:

Age: Children make up 34% of suspects across forces providing demographic data. Juvenile fire-setting — often motivated by curiosity, peer pressure, or pyromania — is a significant component of UK arson statistics and the subject of specialist intervention programmes.

Gender: 80% of suspects are male. The gender skew in arson offending is consistent with patterns in violent and property crime more broadly.

Repeat offending: 23 forces reported a combined total of over 1,300 repeat suspects — individuals arrested or suspected of arson more than once within the data period. Arson recidivism is a recognised pattern, particularly among young offenders and those with underlying mental health or behavioural challenges.

The Cost of Arson

Arson is among the most economically damaging crime categories in the UK:

Compensation for arson victims through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is limited. Between 2022 and 2024, 464 arson victims applied for CICA compensation, but only 76 received a payout — a success rate of approximately 16%. The total awarded was £102,260, averaging £1,345.53 per successful claim.

Arson Prevention

For businesses, the key arson prevention measures identified by fire investigation research and insurer guidance include:

Physical security: Access control, perimeter fencing, security lighting, and CCTV all deter opportunistic arsonists by increasing the risk of detection.

Combustible material management: Removing or securing flammable materials stored outside buildings eliminates the easy ignition sources that arsonists rely upon. Rubbish, pallets, packaging materials, and storage bins adjacent to building walls are consistently implicated in arson fire spread.

Rapid reporting: Encouraging staff and members of the public to report suspicious behaviour promptly — directly to police and to the National Arson Hotline.

Fire suppression systems: Sprinkler systems cannot prevent arson, but they dramatically limit the damage that results. The low rate of sprinkler installation in UK commercial buildings — particularly SMEs — means that arson fires that could have been suppressed frequently cause total loss.

Written by Fire Safety Experts

This guide was produced by the team at Fire Marshal Training, a UK provider of RoSPA and CPD-accredited fire safety training. Understanding arson risk — who sets fires, what motivates them, and what buildings are targeted — is a core component of fire risk assessment for any business. Our fire marshal training covers the recognition of arson indicators and the appropriate emergency response to deliberately set fires. For related data see our Fire Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide, Workplace Fire Statistics UK, and Cost of Fire to UK Businesses.

Sources & References