UK Noise Complaint Statistics

Noise complaints to councils in England and Wales

Local authorities in England and Wales received 306,956 noise complaints between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, according to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Noise Complaint Data Briefing published in 2026. The figure covers 294 councils (Table 1, page 4). The data came from a Freedom of Information request that CIEH sent to councils. 92% of councils responded (Appendix 1, page 13). CIEH describes the data as believed to be representative and as its first dataset since 2020/2021 (page 3).

Source: Noise Complaint Data Briefing.

This page quotes the headline total only. The briefing's regional tables are not reproduced here. They disagree with each other in two places:

• London: Table 1 (page 4) gives 93,632 complaints. Table 5 (page 8) gives 103,023 for 2024/2025.
• Wales: Table 1 (page 4) gives 17,913 complaints. Table 2 (page 5) gives 16,281 for 2024/2025.

The document does not say which figure is correct. We quote neither as a regional count. The total of 306,956 matches the sum of the Table 1 rows and appears again in Table 4 (page 8).

Noise complaints in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's 11 district councils received 9,719 noise complaints between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. That is a 9% fall from 10,684 the year before. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) published the figure in Noise Complaint Statistics for Northern Ireland 2024-25 on 26 November 2025.

Source: Noise Complaint Statistics for Northern Ireland 2024-25.

DAERA's news release for the same report gives the total as 9,716. The report itself and its tables give 9,719 and this page uses 9,719.

• Rate: Belfast had the most complaints per head at 13.18 per 1,000 people. Newry, Mourne and Down had the fewest at 1.95 per 1,000 (Figure 1 and the report summary).
• Outcomes: 78% of complaints were investigated and found unsubstantiated and 16% were substantiated but resolved without a notice (report summary).
• Enforcement: 153 notices were served, down from 162. There were 4 prosecutions for noise offences, up by one (report summary).

DAERA notes that the number of people who report noise depends on both the level of disturbance and their awareness of council noise control services.

How many English households report a noise problem?

Around 11.3 million households (46%) experienced a problem with noise within the last year (Annex Table 4.1). That is the finding of the English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published it on 9 July 2026. Complaints to councils capture only the people who report. This survey asks households directly.

Source: English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025.

• Road traffic was the most common source at 22% of all households (Annex Table 4.1, Figure 4.1).
• Sleep: 42% of households with a noise problem said it affected their sleep (Annex Table 4.3, Figure 4.3).
• Aircraft noise was reported by 6% of owner occupiers and local authority renters, 4% of private renters and 3% of housing association renters (Annex Table 4.1).

Airport noise complaints: Heathrow and Luton

Heathrow recorded 66,786 complaints and enquiries in 2024 and London Luton Airport recorded 620 complaints in April to June 2026. The two reports use different formats and periods. This page shows them separately.

Heathrow, 2024

Heathrow recorded 66,786 complaints and enquiries from 1,385 people across 2024 (Noise Complaints and Enquiries 2024, page 3). Heathrow reports that 10 people were responsible for 87% of all noise complaints received during 2024. It also reports that 89% of people contacted the airport five times or fewer (page 4). The most common reasons were loud aircraft (53%) and low aircraft (22%) (page 6).

Source: Noise Complaints and Enquiries 2024.

London Luton Airport, April to June 2026

London Luton Airport recorded 620 complaints from 61 complainants in April to June 2026 (Quarterly Flight Operations Report for Q2 2026). The same quarter of 2025 had 1,004 complaints from 112 complainants (section 6.1, page 25). The report states that 90% of the complaints in the quarter were received from 10 individuals. 42 of the 61 complainants contacted the airport once. The other 19 generated 578 complaints (page 26). One complainant was responsible for 481 complaints (78% of the total; section 6.6, page 29).

Source: Quarterly Flight Operations Report for Q2 2026.

The report lists the monthly counts as 273 in April, 301 in May and 46 in June 2026.

What complaint counts do and do not show

• Counts are not noise levels. A complaint records that someone reported noise. It does not measure how loud it was, how long it lasted or where it came from.
• A few people can dominate a count. Both airport reports show it. Luton's report attributes part of its fall in complaints to multiple complaints from individuals.
• Definitions differ. Heathrow counts complaints and enquiries. Luton counts complaints. Councils decide for themselves what to log. CIEH collected its figures by request.
• Scotland is not covered. This page has no Scotland figure because none was verified.

How these figures relate to NoiseCheck values

The statistics above are reported counts. They are separate from the decibel values shown for each postcode district on NoiseCheck. Those values are illustrative bands assigned by the site's own code. They are not Defra outputs and not measurements. The about the data page explains how they are assigned. Defra's strategic noise mapping 2022 and the other official maps are modelled by their publishers.

Related guides

• How to make a noise complaint: who to contact and the rules in each nation
• Flight path checker: airport trackers and complaint pages
• Decibel guide: what decibel levels mean
• About the data: how NoiseCheck postcode values are assigned