Portsmouth pensioners are the best neighbours, survey reveals

A new survey by Barratt Homes questioned how neighbourly we are '“ questioning 2,000 people from across the region.

The results show that 52 per cent of over 55s knew the names of five or more people within their neighbourhood '“ compared to 17.3 per cent in the 18-24 category.

Only 3.6 per cent of our older citizens weren't able to name anyone living around them - with the younger generation much less familiar, at 20.4 per cent.

Barratt Homes sales director Michelle Storer said: '˜It is important to us that we are helping to create new communities, rather than just bricks and mortar, so we are interested to know how close-knit UK neighbourhoods really are.

'˜The fact that almost a third of those we asked could name five or more people living around them is very heartening. But there is a difference, depending on age.

'˜We get older, and we become closer to more local residents. It's fair to say, there is a time consideration here.'

According to Barratt Homes '“ which is working on a number of housing developments in the region '“ social media has a big part to play in how we talk to our neighbours.

Ms Storer said: '˜Social media has changed the way we communicate '“ and it has made the world a much smaller place.

'˜Rather than having a quick chat with the person next door, we can instantly connect with someone on the other side of the world.'