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Do you get on well with your neighbours, or are the people living next door stressful? A new report says that a quarter of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the past year. The survey was carried out by an organization called "Which?” It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked 2,062 adults about their relations with neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left feeling angry and half felt irritable, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten admitted to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to seek help and advice."



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The biggest complaints about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing. Loud music and televisions, and doors slamming were also a problem. People also described drug use and police arriving at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the noisy neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people (those aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are suffering in silence." "Which?" said people needed to keep a diary of unneighbourly behaviour.

Sources:

  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/29211402
  • http://www.which.co.uk/news/2014/09/one-in-four-people-have-nuisance-neighbours--376963/?cmp=RSS-GNS_376963
  • http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/09/15/1-in-4-have-nuisance-neighbours/

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