Tips when buying a flat and you are noise sensitive

[user19934]

DH and I are planning to buy our first property soon, our budget will only afford a flat.

I'm quite noise sensitive but absolutely accept I will be able to hear more noise in a flat and I am prepared for this. And I know that it will depend on a lot of factors, including neighbours!

But do you have any tips on what sort of flat you would recommend? New build, older? Ground, upper floor?

This might be a pointless question so sorry if so but just thought I may as well ask!

Thank you

The new build had 10 flats, 2 on each floor. I was on the top floor.

@Aquamarine1029

If you really are very noise sensitive, I think it's a huge mistake to buy a flat. There is absolutely no escaping the noise.

This. I could hear entire phone conversations in my (purpose built) flat. It was a complete nightmare.

I echo all the above. Although from experience, I would say you’re probably better off in some kind of industrial or warehouse conversion because walls/ floors tend to be thicker therefore less likely to hear neighbours, I’d aim for top floor if possible, also as far away from the lifts, bin chutes or under ground car park entrances.

I think it depends on the type of flat. We lived in a Victorian mansion block and there was zero sound insulation between floors. Also the heavy front door made a massive crash whenever it was allowed to slam behind someone (all the time!).

We also lived in more modern apartment complexes and never had sound issues.

The worst sound would be from a period conversion (not built to prevent noise pollution), especially if you're not on the top floor.

I'd always stick to modern apartments for this reason.

Thanks everyone for your replies, lots of great tips here I'm v grateful

I have lived in 2 flats before, both were above a shop with a flat above and there was no noise in either of them but I know we were really lucky.

I currently live mid terrace with thin walls, one side is empty and the other is a generally noisy family. I am learning to deal with my noise sensitivity much better and developing coping mechanisms but I definitely am still noise sensitive. But I 100% agree with pp who said about being on good terms with ndn helps. I have a really tense relationship with current ndn, they're generally v inconsiderate, and I know that is what makes it so much worse for me.

So I have warned DH when we find somewhere we like I will be knocking on all the neighbours doors and staking it out at all hours of the day/days of the week so I can listen

We really just want to get on the property ladder so are going to buy a flat until we're in a better position and then buy a house.

I’d recommend a top floor flat too. I once lived on the first floor of a three storey house converted into three flats. The ground floor residents had a baby with colic and would apologise for the crying at night whenever they saw us. I’m sure they thought we were just being polite when we said we never heard a peep. We genuinely never heard any noise from below. Maybe the house just had really good insulation or possible the fact it had really high ceilings helped

Don't buy one. You'll hate it.

I've lived in 3 flats in central London in purpose built blocks. Never heard upstairs or downstairs neighbors (apart from upstairs's washing machine in the last one - and once I heard running footsteps at 4am which turned out to be him shouting at a potential burglar up a ladder looking in his window! But if I hadn't been up myself at 4am feeding DS at that time I wouldn't have noticed at all). Occasionally you'd hear people in the corridors if they were leaving the apartments opposite but that was it. We suffered more from noise coming from outside, particularly in warm weather when you just want to open a window at night.

My noise tips are:

1. don't buy a flat facing over a junction. Cars will brake noisily, accelerate noisily, and if they're stopped at lights, they'll play their obnoxious music loudly with the windows down on summer nights. We had one in front of traffic lights, our friends had one on a busy street corner and the street noise was awful in summer. Double glazing does a lot to reduce noise but it's no good if you need to open the window for air.

2. don't buy a flat on the main route away from a popular party area, or you'll get drunk people constantly filing past shouting nonsense at 2am. (We rented a lovely flat off brick lane a dozen years ago just as the area started to get popular; after the first year the passing drunks went from fri-sat night to every single night. Very tedious and annoying.)

I live in a ground floor flat in a 30s block at the moment. I can hear everything in the communal hallway, but that's not too bothersome because I know people will be moving through quickly. I rarely hear anything from within my neighbours' flats: have genuinely never heard anything from the flat next to me. If upstairs has their washing machine on then I might hear their spin cycle, but only if I don't have my TV or radio on. Its worth considering the layout of the flat - my building has kitchens on the party walls, so noisy living rooms don't abut each other or disturb bedrooms, if that makes sense.

My ex was very noise sensitive too, but it was only certain types of noise that bothered him. Street noise was fine, but hearing our neighbour's TV would drive him wild. Hopefully you can find somewhere to at least mitigate the noise that bothers you most!

White noise machine

Is the jump to small 2 bed house too much? Your at your neighbours mercy in a flat.. less come to the market but in my old area a small house was not that much more expensive than a flat because the market for two bed houses had a ceiling price

Top floor if you can, ideally with some sort of outside space.

Top floor is best. Personally I'd go with a new build. I've lived in old Victorian buildings converted into flats and the walls have been paper thin and the floors very squeaky. My worst flat for noise was in Madrid. It was a beautiful old building but I could hear every neighbour in the building coming and going. The flat next door also had a shower right next to my bedroom and I could hear the neighbour opening her shampoo bottle. Just lucky she wasn't a shower singer.

DH had a new build flat here in the U.K. and we never heard his neighbours at all. The layout was good though. He was on the top floor in a corner so only had a neighbour to one side and that was attached to the spare room.

It very much depends on your neighbors and which apartment. I'm ground floor and can hear my upstairs neighbor cleaning (we dont have carpets) and a couple times a week a child running around. We are also next to the heavy front door.

My friend is a middle apartment and it is so quiet.

I would choose the top floor with no adjourning apartment.

Bit specific, but I lived in a maisonette in a victorian conversion, end of terrace. So, the ground floor was a different flat, first floor was the main part of our flat and the top floor (loft conversion) was the master bedroom. So the bedroom had no noise from below as there was a floor in between, and no noise from the side as it was just the loft next door. It was bliss.

Definitely get the top floor apartment or look into sound proofing. My neighbours downstairs have complained about me but it's because the floors are wooden and sound carries. You can hear everything and it's just me doing normal things, like walking around (in slippers!). Up here, I can hear doors slamming, especially the front door but it's mostly quiet.

There are 2 apartments on my floor, with front doors facing each other over a landing. That means our living areas don't really share walls - except I think their kitchen is on the other side of my kitchen- so it's quiet. But its also good to know that in older apartments, the buildings themselves can be noisy - pipes bang etc. Traffic noise is also awful, so pick a quiet street.

You mentioned living in flats above shops before. Is this an option if it's low rise, i.e. shop on g/f, flat on first / top floor? A normal shop (not restaurant / takeaway which opens) late means no evening / night noise from below. It needs to be on a side street, as a main street will get traffic noise.

Otherwise agree with comments of others - top floor, no wooden floors, review layout to see which walls are shared, visit in evening when neighbours are home, and luck in who the neighbours are.

What everyone else said. Though I lived for ages in an ex-council two-storey maisonette in a small estate. Incredibly thick walls and concrete. Other than one neighbour having an annual bone-shakingly loud party, you wouldn't hear anything. But it's not something I'd recommend for uncertainty. Though a two-storey flat would help.

As you say, obviously it will depend on neighbours to a degree. We live in central London in a purpose built block, about 20 years old, built around a central courtyard garden. I'm amazed how quiet it is with regard to neighbour noise (usually anyway - occasional noisy parties but there's a building manager, and they will manage complaints so it only usually happens once). We are on the first floor of four, with neighbours either side and above/below. We all have wooden/laminate floors.

A friend lives in a beautiful flat in a big conversion (as have I in the past). The neighbour noise (not on purpose noise, just humans being) is awful, and she's spent a fortune on useless soundproofing.

I would go for a solid newish build. And focus on finding one with a long lease or share of the freehold, that's well managed.

My old block the rule was you had to have carpet which helped as wooden floors do carry sound (this was mandated by the freeholder)
Purpose built 30s, top floor. Also good are blocks where all the room were on top of each other so if people are having s living room party then their/your bedroom will be quiet.

I'm lucky enough to own a house, but lived in a lot of flats before that! I would always go for a top floor if I could - had a great top floor flat in Germany with a lift directly into our hallway and a big terrace. No neighbour noise at all. Modern and concrete and not especially beautiful from the outside, but quiet! Similar concrete flats on lower floors have been OK. Middle floor of a Georgian terrace in London was terrible - creaky floorboards, elephants (apparently) living upstairs and walking past my bedroom on their way up the stairs at 3am! Look out for road noise as well and (harder to spot) train noise - not just the railway line at the bottom of your garden but the one under your house! We were woken daily by the 5.05 from Guildford to Waterloo - the line ran right under our flat and even on the 3rd floor you could feel the vibrations (may need to pour myself a whiskey, an traumatised by the memory!). Quiet flats do exist but they are harder to find, and however much you insist that you only want to see quiet top floor flats, estate agents will insist on showing you ground floor ones right next to the bus stop on a busy street...

I lived in a series of flats and hated it. Could hear everything as other posters have stated. Splashed out on a small detached house. My neighbours are shit but at least they dont know when Im in as there is no car to see.

You need to reduce the number of direct neighbours.

It is possible to have only 1 direct neighbour above or below you if you are in a 2 storey flat and to get one without anyone on either side.

A maisonette has its own front door. This means no communal stairways or corridors and this also reduces noise as there won't be people walking past your front door.

Some maisonettes or converted houses are just 2 flats. There is only 1 neighbour, so less than a mid terraced house. Looking out for these could be good.

If you look at flats which aren't maisonettes and have communal hallways and stairs, when viewing, get someone else to walk around the communal area and upstairs, so you can see how it sounds. Try to do viewings at the weekend or evening when people are about, to get a better sense of the noise.

Avoid flats which are surrounded above, below and on both or more sides with other properties or adjoining walls. Walls to communal areas are better than those adjoining someone else's bedroom or living room, as people simply pass through.

Flats can have less noise than a terraced house. It all depends on construction and layout and how much adjoining there is.

Def avoid lifts - not even for the noise so much but for the horrendous service charges attached!

Depending the number of floors, not having a lift will limit you when you come to resell the flat.

I agree with pp about concrete floors - we have them in a 1930s purpose-built block and we are on the corner too. Still get some noise but mainly from people whose houses back on to us.

Strangely the flats I’ve had that have been the quietest were above shops, they just seem pretty solidly built, you’ll no upstairs neighbours, and if you manage to get the end of a terrace you’ll end up with just one neighbour. Obviously you’d need to be careful about what sort of businesses are below but we were above a bridal shop and never heard a peep from them. Other than that I’ve had good experiences in a Georgian conversion and a very new flat (building regulations regarding sound transmission and insulation were improved in the early 2000s), and terrible experiences in Edwardian, 30s, 60s and 80s properties- although of course these will all vary depending on the quality of the build. Also be wary buying anything with a car park directly below- any sound will echo around all that concrete late at night and drive you potty. Finally don’t buy anything near the lift!!