Insights

Why it matters.

Despite a rise in residential noise complaints and increasing costs that affect the viability of homes, there are growing murmurs of reducing acoustic performances in residential dwellings to the minimum Statutory Requirements set out in Approved Document E (ADE). This move aims to save costs, but is it the right choice?

With modern homebuyers valuing their well-being and considering multi-functional homes post-pandemic, we emphasize the importance of improving the acoustic quality of residential dwellings. This shouldn’t be viewed solely as an additional expense.

A good step forward…

The Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) largely established the practice of specifying separating walls and floors between dwellings to exceed the performance targets of ADE. Notably, the CfSH set ambitious acoustic targets of up to 8 dB.

In practice, achieving these performances is relatively straightforward and does not require significant spatial or material changes. This means that enhancements on ADE are not limited to the super-prime market but are often incorporated into Client briefs for social and affordable housing.

However, the performance targets in ADE have remained unchanged since 2003 and provide only basic protection and privacy. In contrast, ISO-TS 19488: 2021, a standard rarely referenced in the UK, offers a framework to improve acoustic quality in residential dwellings by classifying them from Class A (highest quality) to Class F (lowest quality).

Under this classification, residential dwellings that meet the minimum ADE compliance standards are likely to be classified as Class D. Under the standard this designation would indicate that “disturbance by intruding noise can be expected more than occasionally, even in case of considerate behaviour of neighbours”. Our observations align with this classification, suggesting that compliance with ADE does not guarantee satisfactory living conditions for occupants.

…. A step back in 2025?

It is understandable that there have been murmurs about the possibility of reverting to the minimum ADE standards on projects. The recent intense pressure on schemes due to various factors, including the high cost of building materials, has led some to explore this option as a cost-saving measure.

Noise matters – complaints tell.

However, noise disturbance in residential dwellings is not a new issue. Surveys conducted over two decades ago revealed that people felt their home lives were being disrupted by noise. In fact, a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) in 2020 revealed that there were 143,054 noise complaints in the UK, equating to 61 complaints per 10,000 people, with residential noise accounting for the majority of these complaints.

The detrimental effects of noise pollution are well-documented, with a substantial body of evidence highlighting its impact on our health and well-being. A report by the UN Environment Programme in February 2022 identified noise pollution as one of the top three environmental challenges, alongside wildfires and disruptions to life cycles. In 2023, the Science and Technology Committee (Lords) published a comprehensive report emphasizing noise pollution as a significant health hazard, increasing the risk of heart disease and premature death and that has been ignored for too long.

Neighbour noise has also been further exacerbated by the rise in remote working since the COVID pandemic in 2020. People are now more aware of external noise intrusion and noise transfer from neighbouring spaces as they spend more time at home.

So, while the idea of reducing costs and still delivering a compliant building to ADE may seem appealing, providing only basic acoustic privacy between homes is unlikely to be well-received by end-users.

Is it worth it?

In mulling the idea of pulling back on the acoustic performance of separating walls and floors between dwellings it must be understood how much of a saving reverting to minimum ADE compliance will actually provide and might the move actually impact property value and the developer product?

Consequently, the perceived quality of the final product is likely to suffer which could devalue the brand.

Hoare Lea advocates for improved acoustic quality in our dwellings not only for the sake of creating healthier homes but in the knowledge that there is likely to be commercial value from designing in good levels of sound insulation and privacy between homes.