A new study has found that people in the South East are still deemed to be the unfriendliest in the UK. Across the rest of the regions, residents are getting closer to their neighbours, with two-thirds admitting they speak to fellow residents regularly and a further two in five revealing they know the majority of their neighbours by name.
The study, conducted by the home interior specialists Hillarys.co.uk, saw more than 2,400 UK-based adults, spread across the 12 regions of the UK, quizzed about life in their neighbourhood.
When initially asked if they spoke regularly (at least once a week) to their neighbours, whether this is long or short conversations, two-thirds of respondents claimed that they did (66%). Talking about issues with their local area topped the list of topics spoken about (78%) followed by the weather (55%) and plans for the day (49%).
A further two in five respondents revealed they knew the majority of their neighbours by name (41%). In contrast to the 2016 poll wherein, one in three could not name any of their neighbours, just 1 in 9 (11%) said this was the case now. It was also found that one in seven respondents had previously invited neighbours round for dinner (14%).
Of the two-thirds of respondents who spoke regularly to their neighbours, 19% were from Northern Ireland with Londoners trailing in at number seven on the poll with the South East scoring a miserable 2%.
Lucy Askew, spokesperson for hillarys.co.uk said: “It is great to see a sense of togetherness through neighbourly communities. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice and making friends with neighbours can lead to lovely tight-knit friendship group close to home.”
