How noisy britain makes 1 in 6 of us move house

There are many positive reasons why some of us choose to move house, maybe buying a bigger home or moving to a better area. But recent research from double glazing firm Everest points to the less positive aspects of a house move - noise pollution.

According to its research, one in six Britons has been forced to move house because of noisy neighbours, loud traffic, anti-social behaviour and barking or out-of-control pets.

Everest Home Improvements quizzed 2,000 adults across the UK with 16 percent confessing noise disturbance had made them move. Another 5 percent said they were considering a switch because of the noise levels at their current home, while a further 14 percent said they'd move if they could to get away from the racket of their surroundings.

The immediate effect of noise pollution is on people's health, in particular stress, disturbed sleep, mood swings and temper tantrums. Almost half of UK adults (46 percent) lose sleep on a weekly basis because they are disturbed by noise that wakens them or stops them falling asleep.

Our confidence, performance at work and in day-to-day activities and general state of mind are also negatively affected by increased noise at home. A quarter (24 percent) of all respondents say they are less productive when their sleep is disrupted with 22 percent struggling to concentrate.

Martin Troughton, Everest marketing director at Everest, said: "While many of us will know from personal experience that a disturbed night's sleep can have a detrimental impact on how we feel the next day, the scale of the issue identified through this research is something of a surprise.

"Almost half of the adults in this country are being affected by noise every week, which is having a huge influence on their mood and overall state of mind. The fact that more than a third of us have moved home or considered it due to noise from outside is simply staggering.

"Although over two-thirds of those surveyed said they wouldn't ask the person creating the disturbance to keep the noise down, there are other things they can do to mitigate the problem.

"Rather than going to the extreme lengths and cost of moving house, fitting sound-reducing products such as windows made with laminated acoustic glass will help to reduce the noise, as well as potentially improving the property's energy efficiency and security."

The top five noisy reasons Everest discovered keep Britons awake are:

1. Anti-social behaviour
2. Neighbours
3. Car or house alarms
4. Road noise or traffic
5. Other people's pets

Whatever your reason for deciding to move, Homeward Legal can make sure conveyancing won't give you sleepless nights by taking care of all the legal services you need. Talk to our team now on to get the right deal for you, all with our fixed-fee guarantee and the promise of "no completion, no fee" that won't leave you out of pocket if your sale or purchase falls through for any reason.