The population of Broadbridge Heath has increased considerably in the first two decades of the twenty-first century because of large scale housing development (79% from 2013 to 2019 according to Office For National Statistics).

The earliest evidence of human activity in what is now Broadbridge Heath dates to the Mesolithic period, in the form of flint implements found in the Wickhurst Green area.

In spite of the enclosure of the heath in the 1850s, there was little further development until the late 1880s when land along the main Horsham to Five Oaks Road was offered for sale and a number of semi-detached houses were built there over the next 13 years.

As part of this development, in March 2014, West Sussex County Council proposed a new 'Quadrant' area south of the village, that would include a new leisure centre and other recreational services to serve Horsham but to be built in Broadbridge Heath.

Bus services serving the village are operated by Arriva Southern Counties, Compass Travel, Metrobus and Sussex Coaches.

[12] The bestselling novelist Georgette Heyer lived at the Swan Ken cottage in Broadbridge Heath, for six months from April 1931.