Acoustic consultants in Southampton and Hampshire
Planning-ready noise surveys, noise impact assessments and acoustic reports from a consultancy based in Southampton, covering the city, Eastleigh, Winchester, Portsmouth, the New Forest and the rest of Hampshire.
From flats beside the M27 and the docks to a café bar on a village high street, we measure, assess and report against BS 8233, ProPG and BS 4142, giving planning officers and Environmental Health the evidence they need. Most Hampshire sites are a short drive from our base.
MIOA acoustic consultant · Class 1 instrumentation · Fixed-fee quotes · Site visits typically within 3–5 working days
Hampshire planning noise requirements
Hampshire councils ask for acoustic evidence whenever noise could affect a new development, or a new development could affect its neighbours. Common situations include:
New homes beside the M27, M3, M271 or A33, the main lines into Southampton and Portsmouth, or near Southampton Airport, where glazing and ventilation must be designed around noise.
Condensers, extract and air source heat pumps assessed to BS 4142 against the council's plant noise expectations.
Office-to-residential, Class MA prior approval and flats above shops and bars in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke and the market towns.
Homes near Southampton and Portsmouth docks, industrial estates and late-night venues, assessed under the Agent of Change principle.
Already received a planning condition or an Environmental Health request for a noise assessment?
Send us the detailsLocal planning knowledge
Hampshire has two unitary cities, Southampton and Portsmouth, eleven district and borough councils from Eastleigh and Test Valley to the New Forest and East Hampshire, and two National Park authorities. Each applies national policy through its own Local Plan and Environmental Health expectations.
Knowing what the case officer and Environmental Health will expect before the survey is booked is what keeps an application moving, and avoids the cost of re-surveying. Our recent Hampshire work includes a café bar in West End for Eastleigh Borough Council and a Class MA conversion in Kingsley for East Hampshire District Council.
Planning guide
Noise Survey Report Guide for UK Planning
Read the guide →
Southampton and Portsmouth docks
Homes near the container terminals, cruise berths and naval and commercial quays can hear continuous plant, ship engines and cargo handling through the night, so surveys need to capture the quiet hours properly.
Assessment: BS 8233, ProPG and BS 4142 for port noise
The M27, M3 and M271
Schemes beside the M27, M3, M271 and A33 face continuous road noise, so layout, orientation and screening are considered before relying on glazing alone.
Assessment: ProPG risk assessment and BS 8233 design
City-centre and student night-time economy
Southampton and Portsmouth combine large student populations, bars, takeaways and late opening with new flats above and beside them, so entertainment and plant noise are assessed together.
Assessment: entertainment and BS 4142 plant noise
Southampton Airport and the main line
Homes in Eastleigh and north Southampton can sit near the approach to Southampton Airport and beside the South Western Main Line, so aircraft and rail noise are measured alongside road traffic.
Assessment: BS 8233 and ProPG with aircraft and rail noise
Overheating: Approved Document O
Where noise means bedroom windows would need to stay closed at night, Approved Document O requires another way of preventing overheating, so noise, ventilation and cooling are designed together.
Assessment: acoustics, ventilation and overheating review
The New Forest and the South Downs
In the New Forest and the South Downs National Park, and across rural Test Valley and East Hampshire, very low background levels mean heat pumps, workshops and leisure uses need careful assessment.
Assessment: BS 4142 and MCS 020(a)
Acoustic services in Hampshire
Whether you need a noise assessment, an acoustic survey or noise monitoring in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester or anywhere else in Hampshire, every report is written for the people who have to approve it: clear methodology, transparent data and practical mitigation.
Planning-ready noise impact assessments for residential, commercial and mixed-use schemes across Hampshire, including responses to planning conditions.
Noise impact assessments →
Day and night noise surveys to set glazing, ventilation and garden design for new homes near motorways, rail and airports.
Environmental noise surveys →
Assessments for air conditioning, heat pumps, extract and condensers, designed to meet the council's plant noise expectations.
Plant noise assessments →
Construction noise and vibration predictions, Section 61 support and on-site monitoring for Hampshire build programmes.
Construction noise monitoring →
How it works
A clear, fixed-fee process built around your planning programme. You always know what is being assessed, why, and when your report will be ready.
01
Share the site address, drawings and any planning condition or EHO comments. We confirm the right assessment and send a fixed-fee quote.
02
We measure the existing noise climate with Class 1 instrumentation, including night-time and unattended monitoring where the assessment calls for it.
03
Results are assessed against BS 8233, ProPG, BS 4142 or BS 5228 as relevant, with clear, practical mitigation set out for your design team.
04
We respond to questions from planning officers and Environmental Health, and help you discharge noise-related planning conditions.
Hampshire noise sources
Every Hampshire site has its own noise climate. We design each survey around the sources that matter at your address, measured at the right times and positions so the assessment stands up to scrutiny.
The M27, M3, M271 and A33, the A31 and A36 through the New Forest, and busy city routes in Southampton and Portsmouth, often with night-time HGV traffic to and from the ports.
The South Western Main Line through Basingstoke, Winchester, Eastleigh and Southampton, the lines to Portsmouth, and container freight to and from Southampton docks.
Arrivals and departures at Southampton Airport, business flights at Farnborough and smaller airfields such as Solent Airport at Lee-on-the-Solent.
Port operations, cruise calls and the bars, clubs and student venues of Southampton and Portsmouth, including patron noise, music and deliveries.
Air conditioning, refrigeration and kitchen extract on shops, supermarkets and offices beside homes.
Industrial estates around the ports and Fawley, and long build programmes in growing areas such as Eastleigh, Whiteley and Basingstoke.
Policy and guidance
Every report is framed around the policy the case officer will apply: national policy and guidance, the relevant council's Local Plan and any Neighbourhood Plan, and the standards Environmental Health expect.
National policy
NPPF
PPG Noise
Noise Policy Statement for England
Hampshire and council policy
Council Local Plans
Neighbourhood Plans
Agent of Change
Supplementary planning documents
Standards and guidance
ProPG
BS 8233
BS 4142
BS 5228
Approved Document O
Areas we cover
We carry out noise surveys and acoustic assessments throughout Hampshire from our Southampton base, for developers, architects, planning consultants and homeowners.
Southampton, Portsmouth and South Hampshire
The two cities, the Solent coast and the M27 corridor, with port, motorway, rail and airport noise and busy night-time economies.
Southampton · Eastleigh · Totton · Romsey · Hedge End · Fareham · Gosport · Portsmouth · Havant · Waterlooville · Lymington · Ringwood
Winchester, North and East Hampshire
Winchester and the towns along the M3, the Test Valley, and quiet South Downs and East Hampshire countryside.
Winchester · Andover · Basingstoke · Alton · Petersfield · Bordon · Fleet · Farnborough · Aldershot · Stockbridge · Alresford
Recent Hampshire case studies
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions developers, architects and homeowners ask us most about noise surveys and acoustic reports across Southampton and Hampshire.
Usually, if noise could affect the people who will use the development, or the development could affect its neighbours. Common triggers are new homes near motorways, railways or airports, new plant or air conditioning, conversions near shops and bars, and late-night uses. If you're unsure, send us the site address and we'll tell you whether one is likely to be needed.
Simple noise assessments can start from around £750, and a planning noise survey and report for a small-to-medium project commonly costs £1,000–£2,500+. The fee depends on how long monitoring needs to run, the number of measurement positions and what the council requires. We always provide a fixed-fee quote. Our guide to noise assessment costs explains the main price factors.
We're based in Southampton, so most Hampshire sites are a short drive away and site visits can typically be arranged within 3–5 working days of instruction, with faster options for urgent deadlines. We confirm the survey duration and reporting programme with your quote.
Often, yes. Where a site is near the airport's approach, councils commonly expect aircraft noise to be considered, including early-morning and late-evening movements, so the façade, glazing and ventilation design keeps bedrooms within the BS 8233 and ProPG guidance.
BS 8233 gives guidance on acceptable noise levels inside and around homes and other buildings. Together with ProPG, it is used to design glazing, ventilation and outdoor amenity areas for new residential development. BS 4142 assesses the impact of industrial and commercial sound, such as plant and machinery, on nearby residents by comparing it with the existing background sound level.
All of it, including Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Eastleigh, Fareham, Basingstoke, Andover and the New Forest. We also work right across the rest of the South East and the UK.
Often not, if the installation qualifies as permitted development, which includes meeting the MCS 020(a) noise standard at the nearest neighbour. If it doesn't qualify, for example because of the unit's position, the property's listed status or local restrictions, planning permission may be needed and the council may ask for a noise assessment to BS 4142. Our guide to reducing air source heat pump noise covers the practical options.
Class MA prior approval requires the council to consider the impact of noise from commercial premises on the intended occupiers. Where a conversion sits near shops, bars, workshops or plant, a noise assessment is usually the clearest way to show the new homes will be acceptable. In Kingsley, East Hampshire, our assessment of a nearby vehicle workshop supported a prior approval that was granted.
A planning noise report sets out the site and proposal, the relevant policy and standards, the survey methodology and equipment, the measured results, the assessment against the applicable criteria and any mitigation needed, such as glazing, ventilation, barriers or plant attenuation. See what a noise impact assessment report includes for a full breakdown.
Southampton and Hampshire noise surveys
Send us the site address, drawings and any comments from the council or Environmental Health. We'll confirm exactly which assessment you need and send a fixed-fee quote, aiming to reply within 24–48 hours. Speak directly to Mathew Vaughan MSc MIOA, the consultant who does the work.
MIOA acoustic consultant · Class 1 instrumentation · Fixed fees · UK-wide
