Lewisham has the least noise complaints in London, it was announced this week – with only 458 complaints logged in the past year.
Kensington and Chelsea, where terraced houses sell for an average of £4.2 million, was named the worst borough in London with 13,790 noise complaints made last year.
The figures were compiled by Cirrus Research plc through a Freedom of Information inquiry and published in the Evening Standard. Cirrus hopes to use the figures to build up a UK noise nuisance map.
So what do Lewisham residents think of their borough being the most noise-tolerant in London?
Mark Edmondson, who lives on Jerningham Road, New Cross, told Eastlondonlines: “I am very surprised! It would be interesting to know how different it is, to say 20 years ago, when it was a more working class area and whether gentrification has had a bearing on it.
“The main source of noise is the railway line at the back and our neighbour’s ‘friend’ who talks loudly! I can’t ever remember loud music blaring out of people’s houses, maybe The Rose Pub occasionally and police sirens, but not much else.”
Chloe Pelas, a student at Goldsmiths University, said her student accommodation last year was right on busy New Cross Road. She told Eastlondonlines: “I assume places like Chelsea get so many complaints because the wealthy residents are not used to it, and complain at every house party/disturbance. People in Lewisham are used to it being noisy, its normal.”
Lewisham Way, near Loring Hall where Chloe lived last year, was recently voted one of the noisiest roads in Britain.
Close to New Cross is Brockley, where Oliver Bates lives along Kneller Road. Oliver told Eastlondonlines: “I like Lewisham it is a great area of London. I am definitely surprised it is the quietest borough though, not that I thought it was the loudest but it is certainly lively.”
Lewisham was first established in the Saxon era, when it was known as Levesham and consisted of little more than a high street. With its proximity to London, Lewisham became a popular place of residence for rich city men and their families in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The borough was part of Kent until 1889, with its first railway being the North Kent Line to Dartford in 1849. The modern-day borough wasn’t formed until 1965.
Until the late 1800s, Lewisham consisted of mainly large houses with extensive gardens. Shortly after this the wealthier population started to move out and the large properties were replaced by streets of smaller houses for the lower classes.
Today crime is one of the biggest issues faced by the borough. The homicide rate is twice the national average, at 2.5 people per 100,000. Knife crime is particular concern among 13-24 year olds.
The borough is the 15th most ethnically diverse local authority in England, with two out of every five residents being from a black and minority ethnic background.
Figures for 2015 show that Lewisham had the highest proportion of people in economic deprivation in London. Lewisham now, like the rest of London, is becoming increasingly gentrified. In New Cross is Goldsmiths, University of London, most famous for alumni, such as artist, Damien Hirst.
This is most likely responsible for the rapid increase for cafes, bars and pubs in the area.
It is because Lewisham Council closed their noise pollution emergency help service at end of 2016 (2 and half years ago). Therefore there is nowhere to complain to and have anyone enforce noisy parties outside Monday to Friday 9-5pm.
I am guessing there is just a different level of tolerance for the noise. My wife and I used to live in SE1 where we had awful problems with the neighbours above us. Pity really because the actual areas was lovely and quiet. There was zero noise insulation between our roof and their floor boards and the noise issue got so bad we ended up moving out having found a nice flat on loampit vale.
In hindsight it was a bit of an ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ move because our new flat is right next to the train tracks. It’s genuinely not an issue when the windows are shut but our bedroom heats up like a furnace (particularly this Summer) and the trains seem to run really late. This surprised me, as I thought there were noise rules on how late trains could travel. It seems they are less frequent during the weekend at anti-social hours, but during the week days trains will run well passed 11PM which means we have no choice but to keep our bedroom window closed. This will all be ok in the Winter when it’s cooler but Summers will always be a struggle for us.
I agree with Stuart above. I have tried every way possible to report noise on line, email and calls but just get standard letter with noise log attached and nothing else. They just advise to go and speak to the person yourself. Like that’s sensible advice for a 50+ woman to approach a house full of young males..
We have had problems with the neighbours above us for a year since we moved in. We have complained and it’s got worse, i have explained That my partner is not well they don’t care and now have got people in volved to,