I lived in lots of flats when I was a student. Generally noise depends a lot on the build of the flats and how good the soundproofing is and how noisy the neighbours are (obviously). In general they are noisier than a house although I found living with neighbours below you was much better than having people above you - depending on the type of flooring it can sound like a stampede of people thundering round the flat above you.
I tended not to hear people in neighbouring flats too much, although if you have very noisy neighbours you will still hear them.

 

We lived in a tower block for 30 years, most of the time it was OK just some noisy people but not many, We had grass all round so was easy to take Amber out, we were moved out to a bungalow when she was 16 months old.

 

It can vary wildly, dependant on house build and neighbour type!

You could end up underneath children running and jumping around, so top floors are usually the safest option. Even then there can be other irritations: we have the smell of cooking come up through the floorboards every time our downstairs neighbour cooks, and he seems to like frying garlic...

Never heard much from side neighbours. But take it from me, noise from above can drive you potty.

 

Thank you everyone, not sounding like a good idea at the moment.

 

I wouldn't go back to a flat if you paid me.

Get an ignorant selfish git like the one we had living above us for 10 years and your life is hell

 

When viewing the property ask what the neighbours are like- students, working, families, etc. We’ve lived in our place 6 months now and it’s genuinely silent. I’ve seen our neighbours a handful of times in passing but everyone in the building is a student so all of us are gone during the day. I made to ask in the flat viewing what the folk were like. Everyone is silent in the communal hallways too. It’s bliss, honestly. Much much MUCH quieter than when I lived with my parents and it seemed like the entirety of the city decided to mow their grass on a saturday morning. No loud BBQs, no kids, no gardening, just the sound of a quiet road. Perfect for us.

Edit to add: The only other issue with a flat is that you’re sharing a building with others so if you get any idiots it can ruin the experience. Ours are fine aside from one of them smokes outside with the back door open. I got the landlord to fix the hinge so that it slams shut but failing that I just close it whenever I see it open lol.

 

My SIL is renting a flat. She is on the top floor of a 3 storey block and has one on the end so no neighbours to one side her front door is onto the stairs and is largely quiet as it only has one other flat on that level.
The other block of flats is five storeys and is larger, she did comment it’s far noisier there as more people share the stairs and corridors

 

I used to live in a flat for a short time. No issues with noise. It was in a small village and most residents were older. It very much depends on your neighbours. My sister lives on one and the doors opening and closing always sets Loki off.

 

Thank you everyone.
It's on the housing register so I can't just go and view before applying.

I've got some thinking to do.

I always said the big thing for me was a garden, all I'd like is a bungalow with garden, but that dream seems against me.

 

I’m noise sensitive and have struggled with flats in the past - new build and a Victorian house conversion. I hope something comes up soon for you.

 

I'm noise sensitive and have struggled with flats in the past - new build and a Victorian house conversion. I hope something comes up soon for you.

Thank you.

 

I'd be absolutely devastated if I ever had to go back to living like that. My advice to you, especially as noise sensitive, would be to avoid it at all costs.

 

Thank you all, I won't apply for it, from all your replies and my own thinking, I think it would be a mistake and I'd regret it if I got a flat and also a place with no garden. I really want a garden for myself and Bungo, that has what has kept me going with this search, as much as I really want to move I think loosing the dream of a garden would be too much of a compromise. Plus I don't think living in such close proximity to so many people is a good idea for my sanity.

 

I’ve come into this a bit late as it seems you’ve already made up your mind, but I’ll give you my two penn’oth anyway.

As many will know, I live in an upstairs flat - in my case, a converted semi detached. I have 1 neighbour below me, and two to my right (as I sit here now).

Even from upstairs, you hear arguing, the occasional door slamming shut, etc. The neighbour across from me is deaf and apparently has LD. Covid and lockdowns have meant her routine was ruined, so for over a year, she’s driven my downstairs neighbour (and hers) batty with her screeching. I’ve heard her, and there have been times when I’ve complained about it too, but not as bad as the others. Apparently she went through a spell when she’d bounce a ball down the stairs for her dog to fetch at 1am. Complaints got that stopped, and her carer has been great.

Downstairs neighbour went through a spell of arguing with her boyfriend over the New Year. It was so loud that there were times I could hear every word.

But they are the exceptions to the rule. Generally, it’s quite quiet here.

You said you’re concerned about Bungo barking at your neighbours coming home/leaving their houses. Obviously, it’ll all depend on how sensitive he is, and how noisy neighbours are, but Max and Honey are/were alert barkers, and once they figure/d out it was next door (or someone going next door), they both learned to ignore it. Both know/knew the difference between my gate and next door’s gates too.

 

I've come into this a bit late as it seems you've already made up your mind, but I'll give you my two penn'oth anyway.

As many will know, I live in an upstairs flat - in my case, a converted semi detached. I have 1 neighbour below me, and two to my right (as I sit here now).

Even from upstairs, you hear arguing, the occasional door slamming shut, etc. The neighbour across from me is deaf and apparently has LD. Covid and lockdowns have meant her routine was ruined, so for over a year, she's driven my downstairs neighbour (and hers) batty with her screeching. I've heard her, and there have been times when I've complained about it too, but not as bad as the others. Apparently she went through a spell when she'd bounce a ball down the stairs for her dog to fetch at 1am. Complaints got that stopped, and her carer has been great.

Downstairs neighbour went through a spell of arguing with her boyfriend over the New Year. It was so loud that there were times I could hear every word.

But they are the exceptions to the rule. Generally, it's quite quiet here.

You said you're concerned about Bungo barking at your neighbours coming home/leaving their houses. Obviously, it'll all depend on how sensitive he is, and how noisy neighbours are, but Max and Honey are/were alert barkers, and once they figure/d out it was next door (or someone going next door), they both learned to ignore it. Both know/knew the difference between my gate and next door's gates too.

Thank you.

 

I've lived in my small flat happily for the last 17 years and had very little noise from neighbours.
That all changed last year when a new tenant moved in above me who is very noisy and inconsiderate, and has a dog who barks all the time.
So having good neighbours is a blessing but.........you can't guarantee that will always be the case.

 

I used to live in a flat (converted dairy) & it was great. I never really heard any of my neighbours, maybe the odd door close but that was it. I think the building was very well converted so the noise was minimal but then none of us were the types to throw endless rowdy parties!!

 

I used to live in a flat (converted dairy) & it was great. I never really heard any of my neighbours, maybe the odd door close but that was it. I think the building was very well converted so the noise was minimal but then none of us were the types to throw endless rowdy parties!!

For some people though, it doesn't need to be a loud party to cause disturbance. Like the OP, I am extremely sensitive to noise (and smells and every other sensory issue there is) and it has gotten much worse as I've gotten older. Add in chronic Lyme and fibromyalgia, and my life is a misery when it comes to noise and smells, especially. Just having to listen to other voices-people talking during every day living, phones ringing, the TV on, dogs barking, babies crying, kids screaming, foot steps across a ceiling...I would and do find any of that intolerable.

One of the reasons I stayed in my last apartment so long, in spite of all the issues, was it was a single apartment over a little store. He was only there in the store during my usual working hours, except on weekends, and even his noises I found disturbing (the floor was very thin). In 2016 he closed the store and it was heaven to have the building to myself. But he never took the phone out and it rang a lot...so I still had that. His phone would ring 8 times, then the answering machine would come on and I could hear that, and then if someone left a message I could hear that.

 

Thank you everyone.
It comes down to the normal neighbour issue, good neighbours its, in general, nice, bad neighbours can be a nightmare, and of course what equals a nightmare can be different for different people.
Like @lorilu, not only am I sensitive to noise but I'm also sensitive to smell, so @teddylion 's example of being able to smell the neighbours cooking would be intolerable to me, to the point of bringing on a panic attack with certain smells.
I can smell the neighbours cooking here sometimes, mainly in the warmer months when we all have our windows open, but at least I can get away from it by closing the windows, the thought of not being able to get away leaves me feeling anxious just at the thought.

 

Thank you everyone.
It comes down to the normal neighbour issue, good neighbours its, in general, nice, bad neighbours can be a nightmare, and of course what equals a nightmare can be different for different people.
Like @lorilu, not only am I sensitive to noise but I'm also sensitive to smell, so @teddylion 's example of being able to smell the neighbours cooking would be intolerable to me, to the point of bringing on a panic attack with certain smells.
I can smell the neighbours cooking here sometimes, mainly in the warmer months when we all have our windows open, but at least I can get away from it by closing the windows, the thought of not being able to get away leaves me feeling anxious just at the thought.

I just find people irritating in general tbh so live in a rural location with only a couple of neighbours. Having said that when the irrigators in the fields start up for the first time in the summer the smell of stagnant water is horrible, as is the smell of rotting sugar beet from the fields/barns around here & when they are muck spreading. Luckily I have a poor sense of smell so it doesn't bother me so much but maybe if looking at properties check out surrounding factories, water works etc that might have an impact on you.

 

I lived in a flat in Nottingham City Centre for a few years when I was single. It was great fun to start with, sharing with a good friend, but when she got married and moved out I felt very isolated. All day and all night I could hear foot-steps clacking along the corridors, the fire station was just over the road so constant sirens and a big clock that struck every half hour. The worst thing of all was being unable to just step outside my door into the open air. I couldn't wait to move out into the top flat of a detached house in a leafy suburb, even though it was bitterly cold in the winter with no heating and a leaky roof, it had a garden!
I hope I never, ever have to live in a tower block again though. It would be very bad for my mental health.

 

Oh yes the smoke! I have a few neighbours who smoke, I can't even open my front door without getting a lungful of smoke if they are out there. I get so depressed in the summer as they spend from the moment they get up until around midnight outside, they seem to smoke a lot and I can't even have my windows open unless I want to breath in their smoke and hear them talking and the dogs yapping
Oh how I long for a bit of outside space of my own!

Edit to add, even with everything closed we are all so close it sounds like they are having a party in my hallway sometimes!

 

Oh how I long for a bit of outside space of my own!

Oh gosh I know how you feel xxxx