What Makes People Dissatis ed with their Neighbourhoods?

Summary. A logistic regression model of individual neighbourhood dissatisfaction was devel-oped using data from the 1997/98 Survey of English Housing. Housing satisfaction and the general appearance of the neighbourhood were closely associated with neighbourhood dissatis-faction, although perceptions of noise, friendliness, community spirit, schools and crime were also important. Although sociodemographic factors were much less important than residential per-ceptions in helping to predict dissatisfaction, the type of neighbourhood remained a signi cant independent predictor of dissatisfaction even when residents ’ views were taken into account. Some factors were more important in different areas: in particular, residents in less af uent areas were more sensitive to unfriendliness and crime. There were also indications that owner-occupiers were less satis ed in areas where they had a lower tenure share. The paper concludes that neighbourhood policies with a broad spectrum of goals are required, that pay careful attention to residents ’ own assessments of local conditions