New research reveals that just under half of Brits (46%) are woken or kept awake at least once a week by noise from outside their home, with those affected being disrupted on average 70 nights a year.
As well as losing sleep, there’s a significant knock-on effect on how people feel the next day, which can have a detrimental impact on their overall sense of well-being.
Those affected report having less energy the next day (37%), being in a bad mood (30%), and being less patient (29%). Furthermore, they admit to becoming annoyed more easily (29%) and are less productive (24%).
Disturbances disrupting the sanctuary of our homes during the day or night include car/house alarms (29%), traffic noise (24%), neighbours (24%), anti-social behaviour (24%) and other people’s pets (18%).
95% of us value a good night’s sleep, but what is surprising is our inactivity when it comes to changing the things that stop us from getting the rest and comfort we need when in our homes.
Less than a third (32%) would ask those creating a disturbance to be quiet if the noise was disturbing them. Those disrupted by external noises to their home have resorted to wearing earplugs (16%), turning their TV or radio up (13%) and one in ten (10%) have upgraded their windows to combat noise.
In fact, the problem has become so bad for 16% that they’ve actually moved house because of noise, an additional 14% would have liked to move house because of external disturbance if they could, and a further one in 20 (5%) still might move house due to their current circumstances around noise pollution.
This reinforces the fact that nearly all of us (98%) recognise the impact that our home has on our overall sense of wellbeing.