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Top 10 UK cities with the noisiest neighbours
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
A survey of over 2,000 people living in the UK has revealed the cities with the noisiest neighbours.
According to research by Confused.com, London is the noisiest place to live on its list, with an average of 515 noise complaints per 10,000 households.
Next on the list is Southampton, with an average of 476 complaints per 10,000 households, and third is Bath with 401.
| Ranking | City | Noise complaints over 12 months | Complaints per 10,000 households |
| 1 | London | 158,958 | 515 |
| 2 | Southampton | 5,147 | 476 |
| 3 | Bath | 3,288 | 401 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 3,490 | 384 |
| 5 | Cambridge | 1,693 | 307 |
| 6 | Manchester | 6,274 | 276 |
| 7 | Oxford | 1,521 | 257 |
| 8 | Stockport | 3,282 | 253 |
| 9 | Luton | 2,003 | 250 |
| 10 | Brighton | 3,182 | 249 |
The best and worst London boroughs for noise pollution
As well as loud neighbours, the research looked at the overall noise pollution in the London boroughs:
- Westminster – 1,976 complaints per 10,000 households
- Islington – 1,519 complaints per 10,000 households
- Kensington and Chelsea – 1,486 complaints per 10,000 households
- Barking and Dagenham – 1,278 complaints per 10,000 households
- Hammersmith and Fulham – 1,221 complaints per 10,000 households
It also covered the calmest areas, based on the number of noise complaints:
- Harrow – 72 complaints per 10,000 households
- Greenwich – 74complaints per 10,000 households
- Havering– 96 complaints per 10,000 households
- Brent – 111 complaints per 10,000 households
- Kingston upon Thames – 130 complaints per 10,000 households
Reasons for neighbour noise complaints
The most common reason for a noise complaint was loud music, accounting for half (50%) of reports in the survey. This was closely followed by loud parties with more than two-fifths (43%) of Brits admitting to complaining when their neighbours are hosting a noisy get-together. Raised voices and shouting make up nearly a third (30%) of all noise complaints across the UK.
Reasons why some choose not to complain about noise neighbours
According to the data, nearly two thirds (64%) of Brits have never complained about a neighbour, with a quarter (26%) of these admitting that they would never complain about a neighbour, even if the situation arose.
More than a third (34%) of people wouldn’t complain in fear of creating tension with their neighbour. More than a quarter (26%) were confused about the complaint process or weren’t aware they were able to.
Jessica Willock, home insurance expert at Confused.com, comments: “It’s no fun living in a noisy neighbourhood, and it seems some areas across the UK are a lot worse for noise pollution than others. And living with noisy neighbours can be really difficult to handle without creating tension.
“More often than not, a friendly conversation goes a long way. But when that fails, where to turn to next can be confusing. We’ve created a guide to understanding basic neighbour etiquette, including how best to handle noisy situations. While calling the police might seem like the best route to take, you should in fact be getting in touch with your local council.”
