Neighbours really are good friends
According to research conducted on behalf of mortgage and loans provider Ocean Finance, three-quarters (73%) of people say that they have spoken with their neighbour in the last week, and a third (33%) have say they’ve chatted to them in the last 24 hours. Just one in 20 (5.9%) respondents admitted they had never spoken to the people who live next door to them.
As well as chatting to their neighbours, many people are quick to offer a helping hand to them when it’s needed. Eight in ten (83%) respondents who do talk to those next door said they had also helped them out by doing a favour for them at some point in the last year.
Taking delivery of mail was the most common favour (64%), followed by bringing in the bins (39%), watching over a property while the owner is away (37%), helping carry heavy objects (13%) and even lending a hand with some DIY (11%). And 81% of these respondents said their neighbours have done a favour for them too this year.
When it comes to who knows their neighbours best, respondents who own a terraced property came out top – perhaps because of how easy it is to chat to the people next door over the garden wall. Nearly nine out of ten (89%) respondents who live in a terrace said they know their neighbour’s name, closely followed by those who own a detached (88.9%) or semi-detached house (88.5%).
Homeowners were the most likely to have found out their neighbours’ names. In comparison, just half (56%) of respondents who live in a rented converted flat said they knew what to call their neighbour.
Yet while, for the most part, people in the UK have good relations with their neighbours, these positive feelings may not extend to the rest of their community. Across the UK, two-fifths (39%) of respondents said there is zero community spirit in the place where they live. Only one in five (21%) claimed they encountered it all the time in their neighbourhood.
Times of national pride, such as the news of the Olympics or a Royal baby being born, did pull communities together a little, with a quarter (23%) of respondents saying they only encountered community spirit during a time of celebration. Neighbourhoods were also more likely than usual to band together in times of trouble, with nearly one in five (18%) people claiming that they only encountered community spirit where they live when something bad has happened, such as a flood or power cut.
There also appears to be a divide between those living in the town and those in the countryside. Nearly two-fifths (79%) of respondents who live somewhere rural said they think the area in which they reside has community spirit. In contrast, just half (54%) of respondents who live in suburban residential areas felt this way.
Ian Williams, spokesman for Ocean, says: “Just like the popular Australian daytime soap, it seems like neighbours in the UK really are ‘good friends’. It’s refreshing to see that the vast majority of Brits are happy to do their neighbour a favour or stop for a chat with them.
“However, it seems this good feeling doesn’t extend to the rest of their community, with two-fifths claiming there is no community spirit where they live. It could be argued that community spirit can make a neighbourhood a more desirable place to live, and even influence house prices, so it’s a shame more Brits feel the place where they live is lacking in this.”