Surge in Southampton noisy neighbour complaints during covid pandemic

There were more than 6,000 complaints recorded across the city as nightmare neighbours caused a headache during the first year of the Covid crisis.

This increase in noise complaints placed additional demands on the Environmental Health team.

As a result, additional staff from the commercial Environmental Health areas were called on to help

The city council received a total of 6,157 noise between April 2020 and March this year, according to figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request.

This works out at 2,435 complaints for every 100,000 people.

The number of complaints soared by 46 per cent from 4,231 the year before as people across Southampton were stuck at home for lengthy periods due to strict lockdown rules.

Environment boss, Steven Galton said: “The council has seen an increase in noise complaints during the Covid-19 pandemic. Changing lifestyles, with more people working from home during the daytime, are believed to be the cause of many complaints. The Council’s environmental health team can investigate noise complaints and take enforcement action in the most serious cases (including prosecution), but in the first instance people bothered by noise are encouraged to speak to their neighbours to try and resolve matters amicably.”

The Freedom of Information request submitted to hundreds of local authorities by Churchill Home Insurance found there were more than 368,000 complaints about noisy neighbours lodged to 267 councils across the UK in 2020-21, a 28 per cent rise from the previous year.

The Local Government Association (LSA), which represents local authorities, said councils were working to tackle the problem.

Nesil Caliskan, from the LGA, said: “With many people living in high density, urban areas, complaints about noise nuisance are common. Councils are doing what they can to respond to noise complaints in communities, and to tackle persistent behaviour that makes peoples’ lives a misery.”