The smelliest places to live in the UK, according to official complaints

Councils receive thousands of smell complaints from angry residents every year. But where in the UK is the smelliest place to live?

To find out, the home fragrance experts at Lifestyle Packaging have asked councils in the UK how many nuisance smell complaints they received from local residents between 2015-2019*.

According to the UK Government, a bad odour is deemed a “statutory nuisance” if it interferes with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premise, or if it injures health. Bad smells are also the third biggest turn-off for homebuyers, behind damp and the property being in a poor state of repair.

In five years, the UK councils studied received a staggering 116,789 nuisance smell complaints – that’s one per every 500 people. Brits are also more likely to complain about their neighbours’ homes and gardens than restaurants, sewage, or industrial smells.

The prize for the UK’s smelliest place is awarded to, somewhat surprisingly, the Cotswold District, spread over 450 square miles in Gloucestershire with some 80 percent of its land located within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty:

Cotswold District Council received 2,996 nuisance smell complaints (calculated per capita) in five years. This averages out at approximately one smell complaint per 33 residents, well above the national average of one complaint per 500 people.

In 2019 alone, Cotswold District Council received 906 complaints of unbearable smells, up 308 percent from 2015.

Most complaints in Cotswold related to bad smells coming from commercial premises, such as restaurants and pubs, as well as muck spreading – the agricultural practice of spraying fields with liquid manure.

There are strict rules around muck spreading to avoid manure coming into contact with humans, but the unpleasant odour can spread for miles, plaguing local communities.

The good news is, the Government is clamping down on the practice of muck spreading on farms as part of its Environment Bill 2020 to improve the nation’s air quality. Animal manure is a key source of ammonia, a powerful pollutant that can lodge deep in the lungs, harming resident’s health.

Bassetlaw in North Nottinghamshire came in second place with 1604 complaints per capita in the last five years, or one complaint for every 62 residents. The borough is predominantly rural, with two towns: Worksop and Retford. Bassetlaw’s main gripes were commercial premises and industrial smells coming from these urban centres.

The City of London came in third place, with 1344 smell complaints per capita, or one complaint per 74 inhabitants. The 2.9 square kilometre business and financial hub in the heart of the Capital is home to 8,700 permanent residents. Residents were most likely to complain about unpleasant odours coming from commercial premises, occupied by an estimated 1 million workers.

Westminster (936 complaints per capita), North West Leicestershire (also 936), Chichester (904), Ashford Kent (846), North Norfolk (794), Teignbridge (775) and Swansea (707) make up the rest of the top 10 smelliest places to live in the UK.

Believe it or not, councils often send out human “sniffers” to assess smell complaints, and ask local residents to keep “smell diaries”, recording their perception of the smell and the effect it has on them.

Councils can also issue an abatement notice to the person responsible, demanding they take steps to stop the smell nuisance. Failure to comply with an abatement notice can lead to a maximum fine of £40,000.

At the other end of the table, the UK’s “best smelling” places to live with the fewest smell complaints from locals are:

·         London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (1 smell complaint over food preparation)

·         Folkestone and Hythe District Council in Kent (2 complaints over bad agricultural odours)

·         London Borough of Bromley (7 complaints, mostly about a waste recycling centre)

·         London Borough of Tower Hamlets (7 complaints, mostly about air quality)

·         Three Rivers in Herfordshire (8 complaints, mostly about food preparation)