BBC R4's iPM blog has published survey results for the question:
Do you know any of your immediate neighbours, in the sense of something more than exchanging 'Good morning' or 'Good afternoon' for example?
Seventy-seven per cent of respondents say they do, which is low compared with similar questions in other surveys. Not clear how people interpret 'immediate'.
Last year a survey for BBC Breakfast asked:
How many people, if any, have you said hello to in the street where you live, in the past 7 days?
Just 11 per cent responded 'none' with 3 per cent 'don't knows'.
The key statistic in this new data is probably the fact that just 57% of those who live in a flat or apartment answered yes. Of those who live in a flat or apartment in a city centre, 47% said they did not know their immediate neighbours.
Women are slightly more likely to know their neighbours; those in socio-economic classes DE slightly less. (Forty-five per cent of DEs in this sample are over 65). Also those in south east England are slightly less likely to know their neighbours. As we might expect, familiarity with neighbours peaks at around age 60.
