A Hush Acoustics Blog: Common Housing Problems – Noisy Neigbours

Unless you live in tranquil rural isolation, neighbours are, for better or worse, a part of domestic life. With a population of over 66 Million in the UK, it is likely that most of us live next door to someone. A massive two-thirds of UK homeowners say their lives are being destroyed by the actions of those next door. Recent studies by HACT found that the most common problem impacting well-being and happiness at home was noise from their neighbours, as well as it being one of the top 5 determinants for people wanting to move house.

Nasty disputes with noisy neighbours

It is a fact that people are likely to have disputes with their neighbours from time to time, and of those disputes the most common cause is noise. We can’t underestimate the damaging effects that noisy neighbours can have on people’s health and this is only too raw for Hush Marketing Manager, Nicci Crampton who recently moved home herself due to the poor acoustics in her rented home and noise from her neighbour.

Nicci says “It was such a hard time in my life. I had just had a new baby, I had my two year old daughter and I was going through so much change in my own life. The shouting and complaining from my next door neighbour added so much to my stress that I became very ill. The only escape was to move home”

“My neighbour would complain about my 1 week old daughter crying & my 2 year old daughter playing in her playroom. The house had exposed wooden floors and was slightly raised to their house as we were situated on a hill. My neighbour didn’t understand that we weren’t being noisy, we were just living our daily life and so he took to making our lives a misery.”

“Although the police were involved and addressed the neighbour, telling him there were no grounds for him to act this way towards a young family, he continued. So, we were forced to move house after only 6 months of being in there, which you can imagine with a tiny baby, was not the ideal situation”

Neighbour noise doesn’t just happen in private/rented housing – it also affects students living in shared accommodation. Young people enjoying their independence may see life as a non-stop party, playing music loudly and being noisy outside of sociable hours. However, this can be damaging for those that are living next door and can really affect their sleep as well as their studying.

How to solve the issue of personal noise and/or disruptive neighbours

Although advice from the council and others is to try and address these disputes yourself by talking to your neighbours and trying to come to a mutual agreement, at Hush we want to help prevent these situations from ever occurring in the first place. If they do occur, we can help solve these issues, making neighbour noise more bearable, and thus making everyone happier.

In some cases it is simply poor building work that amplifies the sounds coming from your neighbours. With this in mind, Hush have designed products and systems that can be used in the initial stages of building, as well as in existing properties, and those undertaking refurbishment. Building Regulation Guidelines, such as Document E (England and Wales), Section 5 (Scotland) and Part G (Northern Ireland) determine the correct levels of noise reduction between connected residential units. Hush can help you cut through the noise of neighbors and complicated legislation to get you sleeping soundly.

Hush also offer CPD training on all their products and systems

Hush offers tailor-made CPD courses to Specifiers and Architects, to make it easier for you to make people’s lives in their homes happier and healthier.

You can request a CPD presentation here.