From Noise Pollution to Complains : The UK Noisiest Cities

What Noises are the Nuisances of the Nation?

• Brits deem the sound of chewing to be the most annoying noise (49%)
• Over a third (37%) of UK residents state their sleep is interrupted by noise intrusion
• London has the most noise complaints with 189 counts per 10,000 people
• A fifth of Brits are willing to spend £50 a month for peace and quiet

Nationwide lockdowns have forced everyone to spend more time at home. An unintended consequence is that it’s left them at the mercy of annoying noises that they might not have noticed before. A recent survey by Currys PC World uncovered what noises bug Brits the most. Here are some of the top highlights:

Who are the UK’s noisiest neighbours? 

The survey found the regions that had the most noise complaints per year (based on one notice for every 10,000 people) are:

• London, which has a population of 8.9 million people, and had 189 noise complaints per 10,000 people
• Yorkshire and the Humber, with a population of 5.4 million, had 56 counts
• The North East of England, with a population of 2.6 million, received 56 counts of noise complaints each year
• The South West of England, with a population of 5.6 million, received the fewest noise complaints at just 27 counts.

Here’s the best and worst cities that are exposed to both noise and light pollution ranked out of 100 (100 representing the worst level of pollution):

• Coventry scored the highest with 67.5 out of 100
• Bradford scored the second-highest with 65.5
• Hull has the lowest amount of noise and light pollution and gets a score of just 25

UK residents would prefer to speak to the culprit about their noise levels than retaliate in other ways

Establishing a good relationship with our neighbours can be tough when they’re loud and disruptive. In fact, 34% of respondents blamed neighbours for being the biggest culprits of excessive noise. Here’s how Brits opt to deal with a noisy neighbour:

• Just under half of Brits (47%) prefer the face-to-face approach
• 27% of respondents wouldn’t do anything
• 15% would play music to drown them out
• 12% of Brits would make a noise complaint or leave a note asking them to keep it down
• 7% of Brits would call the police

Brits are willing to fork out the cash for a moment of silence

Nearly 20% of Brits are willing to pay up to £50 a month to make sure they aren’t disturbed by loud noises. Here are the cities that are willing to pay the most:

• Londoners will pay up to £41.29 per month
• Belfast residents will pay £29.52 per month
• Manchester and Birmingham will pay £26.80 and £26.67 per month
• People in Plymouth are willing to pay the least, with just £11.11 a month

The UK’s top 10 most hated noises 

Noises that we “hate” can be very subjective and will differ from person to person. Yet just under half of the nation despise the sound of people chewing, earning the top spot on the list of the UK’s most hated noises. Here are the other sounds that ranked in the top 10:

Women are more irritated than men by all noises apart from children screaming and dogs barking 

The survey found that women are generally less tolerant of intrusive sounds than men. Here’s what we discovered:

• From our list of the top ten most annoying noises, eight of them annoyed more women than they did men.
• Men are more annoyed than women are at noises made by small children or animals.

Sleep, watching TV and reading are the UKs most disrupted activities 

When it comes to noise intrusions, sleep is the most interrupted activity, with 37% of respondents saying it’s hard to catch some Z’s. Here are the other activities that are the most disrupted by noise:

• A quarter of Brits can’t watch TV without experiencing noise intrusion
• Nearly a firth (18%) of respondents are interrupted when reading
• Over one in ten (12%) are disturbed by loud noises at work
• 7% of the nation are regularly disrupted by noise during sex

Although some noises disrupt our lives, there are some activities Brits need sound for 

While excessively loud techno music might not be welcome in the small hours of the morning, there are other instances where noise makes certain activities better.

• Nearly a quarter (24%) of the nation believes that listening to sounds makes cleaning a much nicer experience.
• Twice as many females (32%) need to listen to music while cleaning then males (15%)
• Nearly one in ten Brits revealed they need sounds during sex – with almost twice the percentage of men (11%) stating so than women (6%).

What sounds do Brits listen to? 

So, we know what activities are better with sound, but what are we listening to, to help us relax? Well, 63% of Brits are turning up the tunes and opting to listen to music the most. Here’s what else we’re listening to:

• 38% of respondents will listen to their favourite film or TV show
• Nearly a fifth (17%) of respondents prefer silence
• Over one in ten (13%) will listen to podcasts to relax
• 6% of the nation listen to ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) to chill out