Efforts to design and retrofit buildings to ensure reasonable acoustic performance or tolerable noise levels for occupants seem to be progressing. Different market practices and regulatory requrements prevail depending on geography. The UK remains something of a laggard compared to many parts of Europe and the wider world.
In terms of the disease burden it imposes, environmental noise seems to come second only to air pollution, in the judgement of the World Health Organization.1 Arguably, the threat it presents to quality of life is even greater.
The single most harmful effect is considered to be sleep disturbance,2 causing mood and cognitive impairment, but studies also link aircraft and road noise, for example, to cardiovascular disease and other conditions.
Signs that it Is taken seriously seem to vary by country, and to be reflected in the market practices and regulatory requirements apparent in the built environment sector of each place.
In Germany, for example, there are strong signs of official support emerging for the improvement of acoustic comfort in housing. The Berlin Soundproof Window Program (2024–2025), funded by the local State government, provides non-repayable grants covering up to 90% of costs (max. €15,000 per apartment) for installing sound-insulating windows, doors, and ventilation systems in areas exposed to high external noise (e.g., from roads or railways).
There are no comparable citywide schemes in the UK. A service targeting a particular locality is Heathrow Airport’s Quieter Neighbourhood Support Scheme, which includes the supply of residential insulation, with Kier Places acting as delivery partner. It will supply and install replacement windows, secondary glazing and doors, new ventilation, loft insulation, and upgrading of ceilings.3
An oft-repeated saw seems to be that features like sound-proofing are treated much more as a selling point of new buildings in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and many other parts of Europe, whereas in the UK it tends to be treated as a compliance issue.
In England, the legal minimum requirements are specified in Part E of the Building Regulations 2010. This sets out minimum standards of sound insulation for new buildings and certain refurbishment or conversions. Broadly similar requirements apply in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland but via separate regulations for each.
This sets out numerical ratings for noise transmission between and within dwellings, including things like airborne sound insulation, impact sound insulation, and reverberation control.
Compliance will ensure a building is lawful, but is not deemed to guarantee a particularly high level of acoustic comfort.
German design mandate
Another point of divergence between the UK and Germany (and other parts of Europe), for example, seems to be that the UK frames noise in the built environment as more of a planning matter, unlike Germany where acoustic protection is embedded much more directly in the law and technical standards that govern buildings.
Building regulations such as Part E, for example, mostly deal with noise between dwellings, rather than that coming from outside. For the latter, planning-level considerations, local councils rely on guidance from regulatory instruments like National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance on Noise (PPG-Noise). Local councils also use noise assessments to decide, for example, if a new housing development is acceptable. On the basis of these, planning permission will specify conditions for the development (i.e., “bedroom windows facing the road must meet X dB sound insulation.”).
In Germany, by contrast, developers are bound much more tightly by acoustic considerations at the level of building standards. For example, DIN 4109, which relates to sound insulation in buildings, specifies minimum requirements in this regard for external walls, windows, roofs and so on, based on measurements of the noise levels at the building site. So, the law obliges architects and developers to design a façade, for example, that shields residents from external noise, a distinctly different approach to relying on planners to make a judgement on acceptability.
Planning rules evolve
Tweaks and ongoing changes to the UK planning rules are also apparent. In late July, The the Department for Business and Trade announced plans to introduce the ‘Agent of Change’ principle into national planning and licensing policy. This will make developers responsible for soundproofing their buildings if they choose to build near existing pubs, clubs or music venues.4
Sustainable design is arguably making more urgent demands on the attention of construction firms and developers, and one or two recent articles warn of the acoustic pitfalls that can arise with adding energy-efficiency measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation.
One expert firm, Polaris Acoustics warns of “over-sealing”, or making a building too airtight which, while useful for minimising heat loss, can have acoustic consequences, with sealed cavities acting as drums or resonators, for example.5 The group recommends an installation plan that works to balance these elements, incorporating acoustic panels or lining between joists, for example, can maximise acoustic comfort while maintaining energy efficiency performance.
Innovative materials seem to have an increasingly important role to play in building acoustics, and Polaris Acoustics highlights an ongoing move towards “carbon smart” materials and cross-laminated timber, which offer carbon savings but also alter acoustic paths. This all seems to point to a need for early engagement of acoustic experts at the building design stage, to ensure these factors are balanced.
Notes
[1] Burden of disease from environmental noise. Quantification of healthy life years lost in Europe, World Health Organisation, 2011.
[2] CIEH Noise Survey 2020/21, Report on findings – England. https://www.cieh.org/media/6561/cieh-noise-survey-england-2020-21.pdf
[3] Kier to noise-proof 20,000 homes around Heathrow, Construction Enquirer, Sept 2024.
[4] “Plans to protect music venues from new build noise complaints”, Institute of Acoustics website, news, 31 July 2025
[5] “The Future of Acoustics in Eco-Friendly Building Design”, Polaris Acoustics, blog, July 2025
