Road & railway noise, explained

How to use these guides

There are 39 guides here, in 6 groups. Each one is written for someone who has to make a decision about a home: whether to buy it, whether to put up with the noise, or whether to do something about it.

If you are weighing up a purchase, start with Buying & selling. If you already live somewhere noisy and want to know what could help, Mitigation covers the practical options. Health looks at road noise, sleep and the World Health Organization guidelines. Planning & professional is for anyone with a planning question or wondering what a noise assessment involves. Data & case studies has our reports, a worked example and a comparison of different kinds of noise data. Guides covers the basics, such as what a decibel is.

None of these guides replaces a check on the address you actually care about. Noise changes from one street, and often one house, to the next, so use the guides to understand the subject and then check the property itself.