I just graduated in July and am now looking for jobs and accomodation. In my last flat I had a really bad problem with noisy neighbours, so wishing not to repeat this incident, I perused the web on flat hunting tips. Surprisingly, there aren't very many articles on choosing a flat in the UK on the Internet. Does anyone have any advice or experiences with choosing a flat? Especially when it comes to noise?

Truth is, when it comes to noise flats are almost always a bad option as you can't choose your neighbours, people often move out and thus the possibility exists that new, noisy neighbours move in. Plus, with developers in the UK being extremely keen on profits and not caring much about the buyer/tenant's quality of life, you will often find low building quality, in other words, walls and ceiling are of a minimum quality as these flat blocks have often been build within two years or less and satisfy the minimum requirements. No stone walls between flats, just thin layers of woods between rooms etc.

Therefore, to answer your question, a (detached) house is perhaps a better option, at least in most cases in this country.

Well, unfortunately renting a detached house would most probably be out of my budget . From what I know, the old council and housing association flats provide the least amount of noise insulation when it comes to neighbours. These apparently were built cheaply simply to provide people with a basic roof over their heads. My last flat was council and I have a friend who stays in a housing association flat where conversations can be heard if the upstairs neighbour talks louder than normal. I've been looking at some of the newer flats availiable. Does anyone live in one of these? If so, whats the noise insulation like?

I've usually paid around 300-350/month for a flat. I think noise is unavoidable - earplugs are the only real solution.

What type of flats did you live in juno? My friend who lives in one of the Edwardian-type flats with high ceilings has no problem with noise. So far the 60s era council flats provide the least sound insulation in my experience. And they had no intercom on the front door.

It is an Edwardian house, but I think that extra levels have been added over time - my ceiling is quite low. I can hear my lower neighbours farting

lol. That's pretty bad insulation. Perhaps comparable to my friend who is sometimes kept awake by his neighbours having sex upstairs.

I live in a 1st floor of a block of flats built by FairView Homes. The block was built ten years ago, and it is very noisy. These flats allow you to suffer the following noises generated by your neigbours: footsteps, dropping objects, light switches being switched on/off, toilet flushing, and the noise of the washing machine. During nightime, it's impossible to have a good sleep here. During daytime, it's impossible to enjoy the flat due to these annoyances.

I have always been under the impression that modern homes are better built, but that is not the case. The most up-to-date version of the building standards document E, which details the sound insulation properties a new home should have, still contains very low values that allow daily routines to be heard. And developers like FairView Homes will build a block of flats with specifications that will barely satisfy the already low building standards.

Perhaps the best option is to let a detached house with some friends. In doing so, a prolonged suffering will be avoided, hopefully.

Unfortunately, I have but one friend.

So that's probably not an option

I wouldn't live with friends. You will want to kill each other by the end of the first month.