Poll suggests growing noise of UK cities is impacting hearing

Survey ranks Birmingham, Bradford and Liverpool as top three loudest cities in the UK, with London placing tenth and recording 440,000 noise complaints since 2020

Birmingham has emerged as the noisiest city in the UK in a Specsavers poll of over 2000 city dwellers. The West Midlands city narrowly beat Bradford and Liverpool, which ranked second and third respectively.

Other cities ranking highly include Cardiff, Coventry, Leeds, and Newcastle, with Derby placing eighth. Nottingham and London rounded out the top 10.

Alongside the survey, the company also conducted a series of Freedom of Information requests to uncover the scale of noise complaints across urban areas since 2020. 

Manchester totalled 31,000 complaints, with Hull and Portsmouth receiving 14,000 each, while Leicester wasn’t far behind at 13,900.   

Bradford, Liverpool, and Newcastle all attracted more than 11,000 complaints, and Leeds logged 10,000. But the London boroughs, which responded to the requests collectively, recorded 440,000 noise complaints, with Islington and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea receiving more than 60,000 each. 

Sonam Sehemby, a Specsavers hearing expert said, “Living in a noisy city can be exhausting – from relentless traffic and sirens to never-ending construction work. The constant noise makes it harder to focus and follow a conversation, often leaving people feeling socially withdrawn and disconnected. 

“It’s become clear from our research that we are living in a world with more background noise than ever, which can make it a struggle to hear or follow conversation.”

The study found that 54% of city dwellers believe their environment has become louder over the past five years, while 45% say noise disrupts their lives at least once a week.  

Traffic (49%), noisy neighbours (35%), construction work (36%), and emergency sirens (32%) were the biggest culprits. Nightlife (20%) and aircraft noise (13%) were also common sources of frustration.  

Vince Taylor, a Board Member of the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) and Technical Director at SLR Consulting cited an article on Vox.com regarding rising ambient noise. It reported that a fire engine siren in 1912 reached up to 96 decibels from a distance of 11 feet, while by 1974 siren sounds hit 114 decibels at the same distance, and in 2019, fire engine sirens reached 123 decibels at 10 feet.

Taylor says, “This indicates that to be heard above the ‘drone’ of everyday life these appliances have had to increase their siren noise levels over the years to compensate for the ambient noise within the environment and continue to be heard for safety purposes.”

“Disruptions to our sleep and circadian rhythm, often caused by noise and other factors, can lead to various health issues.”

He added that with growing urbanisation and population growth, environmental health, scientific and acoustics industry practitioners “must diligently continue to assess and mitigate significant adverse noise impacts from development” as far as is practical. 

Over half (53%) of survey respondents said urban noise makes it harder to concentrate, while 51% reported that it negatively impacts their sleep.  

Taylor said, “Sleep disturbance remains a key consideration in respect to the potential health impact of noise. Disruptions to our sleep and circadian rhythm, often caused by noise and other factors, can lead to various health issues.” 

These can include insomnia, older adults needing sleep medications, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, and even cancer. “Thus, control of noise is fundamental to improving public health,” said Taylor.

Nearly two thirds of Britons (61%) believe their ability to hear has worsened due to city noise, with a third (37%) struggling to follow conversations, and 24% feeling unable to fully engage in social situations.