Noisy Neighbour Advice

[V8Ford]

Hi all,

I own a first floor flat in a converted house type arrangement, the flat below is rented and two young guys have moved in. I had to mention the volume of their stereo to them and explain it was too loud, after which they turned it off immediately.

A few days later they had a party with some mates and the volume went up again. I start work quite early so I went outside and asked two young chaps to turn down the music. They obliged, all was well. Until half midnight, the music started again and continued until 3am.

The next day I was extremely tired, and after work told one of them in no uncertain terms that I was not happy (company director style of course).

Again things went quiet but at present it sounds like the stereo has moved to the room below my bedroom and is broadcasting all sorts of 'banging choons'.
I feel they have had ample warning and I intend to contact either the council or the landlord, although first I would appreciate some advice from anyone who has had similar problems?

Thanks

ETA - the volume seems to have gone down now so perhaps they have listened. Still, advice would be appreciated just in case there are further problems.

Edited by V8Ford on Tuesday 23 December 22:58

Edited by V8Ford on Tuesday 23 December 22:59

[cptsideways]

Put your stereo on full blast when you get up early am



Get it resolved quickly, been there done that it can be an utter pain & the council route can be long winded. If you do go this route do it thoroughly & take all the advise given.


Personally I'd be knocking on their door at 3am with a dry powder fire extinguisher

[Chrisgr31]

Always better to settle by negotiation! Try and come to some compromise music low by 10.30 Sun-Thurs 11.30 Fri Sat or something altough with warning later hours could be agreed.

Oh and check hpw loud it is in their flat, in my old house I had speakers on brackets on the wall, having been invited in to listen I'd swear it was louder in his house than mine!

[blue bear]

Complain to the landlord , as a landlord he has a duty of care not only for the tenants but also the neighbours

[jdw100]

You have my sympathies OP.

I had this quite a while ago when I was in the first house I bought.
Nice little cul-de-sac, lovely neighbours then the couple next door moved and out and rented out their property.

It was taken on by two brothers in their early twenties. One had just been done for drink driving the other was training to be a carpenter but got sacked for not turning up. You get the picture...

At first I would pop round and have a word each time they disturbed me. They were genuinely baffled why having their mates rounds; shirts off, drinking, swearing, playing music in the garden until 04:00 might be an issues (small gardens - starter type homes). Why was I complaining when they arrived back late blasting tunes out of their Corsa? What was the issues with leaving black bin bags outside their front door for weeks on end?

I was equally amazed by their behaviour!

Then I met their Dad and it all became clear- they went to his wedding and introduced me when they came back to the house afterwards. Swallow tattoos, fat, can in hand...you get the picture.

After a while I gave up trying to get them to behave, they would try and all would be fine for a few weeks and all of us neighbours would breathe a sigh of relief and think problem solved. Then something would happen - a girl screaming in the street, a loud party...

In the end I just rang the letting agency every time something happened and after about a month they got chucked out. Peace returned.

Shame as underneath it they were good lads - we put a fence up together and shared a few cups of tea over the months - but they just had not been taught how to behave in a decent manner and think about others rather than themselves.

My advice is to have a chat with people first - see if you can get them to understand that their behaviour is causing upset and if that doesn't work then start ringing the owners/letting agency every time you get an issue.

Had something similar happen in Muswell Hill a few years later -except this guy worked for the World Bank; so very much at other end of scale to the above lads. Thought playing a piano at 03:00 was acceptable.....

[selwonk]

Nip it in the bud is my advice. Get the council involved if they persist. We've had similar problems with next door and after 10 years of st finally got the council involved which put a stop to it, or at least the worst of it.

In my experience, if they are the sort to do it in the first place, they are not the sort to listen to reason. We should have involved the council years ago but didn't on the misguided basis that trying to maintain a goodish relationship might make them see sense. It didn't. It was only once the council contacted them that the noise abated.

Also, take a detailed log of all the disturbances because the council will want it.

[V8Ford]

Thanks for all your advice, the general consensus seems to be mention it face to face and then if it persists make it official. Helps to know that I am on the right track.

Matthew

[littlebasher]

V8Ford said:

Thanks for all your advice, the general consensus seems to be mention it face to face and then if it persists make it official. Helps to know that I am on the right track.

Matthew

I would suggest waiting until they're noisy again, then inviting them up to your place to hear it for themselves.

If they experience what you're having to live with, they may get a new perspective

[KFC]

You own and they rent.... its hard to see you winning if it ends up in a nasty dispute. They can easily just move out with relatively little comeback. You can't, without racking up huge expense and legally being obliged to tell the new buyer about disputes etc.

I'd be inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt right now given they've just moved in and its the holiday season. Then get them in your flat with their stereo on if its still persisting in mid January. There simply isn't any way to win if you go storming down there and get in a massive dispute

[Caterhamfan]

I had exactly this problem in a flat several years ago. The flat next door was rented out and loud music became the norm, at all hours of the day and night. I complained to the occupants on several occasions, to no avail, as did other neighbours. Then we complained to the management company - two warning letters to the flat owner, as the noise contravened a covenant on the original sales contract. This was followed by the occupants being sent on their way. Job done

[Drawweight]

Like a lot on here we had the same problem. The flat upstairs was let to 3 young guys. Mon- Thur they were nice pleasant guys, but fri-Sun was party party.

My advice is complain to EVERYONE, police , council, letting agent and the owner as well if you can find out who he is.

The police should visit and tell them to turn it down, they may pass it on to the local authority noise team who will do the same.

And keep phoning and writing letters to the letting agent every time there is an incident. A good letting agent will not tolerate a bad tenant.

The letting agent is your best bet and should refuse to renew their contract at the end of the period. if not...keep complaining.

[V8Ford]

Thanks guys. I'm guessing the council would hold the information on who is the letting agent?
They might be interested to know my flat also stinks of cannabis since these guys moved in.

[loskie]

The last statement sounds like you have started having a joint to ease the stress

[Drive Blind]

you have my sympathies OP - i went through this a few years back.

to cut a long story short, trying to reason with them got me nowhere, in fact it made things worse cos they now knew specifically what disturbed me and they did it more. Speaking to the letting agency was also a waste of time. They couldn't have cared less how their tenants behaved.

So what did fix it? The other neighbours and the police. A single complainer is easy to dismiss, when 4 other neighbours are also complaining that helps a lot. I waited until the usual weekend loud music party and phoned 101. Folk really dont like the police showing up at their door.

2 months later they moved on.

[Red Devil]

V8Ford said:

Thanks guys. I'm guessing the council would hold the information on who is the letting agent?

Not necessarily, so don't rely on it. Even if they do, be prepared for a tardy response. In a block of flats the managing agent definitely will though.

I had some water come through the ceiling extractor fan one morning. I found out because it started up all by itself and couldn't be turned off! Water and electricity don't mix so I had to flip the circuit breaker to cut the power which was a pain as I then had none to any sockets in the kitchen or the cooker. One quick call produced the required name and contact details of the letting agent. Gave them a call and they contacted the tenant. Plumber was round to have a look later that afternoon. Turned out that the problem was a faulty bath seal which leaked when the tenant upstairs took a shower.

[V8Matthew]

For anyone interested, or searching because they have a similar problem - here's an update.

One of the young men moved out after a loud fight. Unfortunately, this left behind the lad who I suspected to be the problem in the first place. He was then joined by his brother.
The noise problem was still there, but was sporadic. However it slowly became more frequent.

My mistake (I feel) has been giving them way too much leeway by speaking to them in person so many times before going to the letting agent. I finally relented and rang them, giving a full account of the issues, and they advised me the next day that due to my complaint and some other problems (which they didn't go into) the tenants would be served their notice.

I hoped that due to the antisocial nature of their behaviour, the notice period would be 7 days. This is now day 7 and they're still there so no luck, I guess I'm looking at a month.

I have involved the police using the non-emergency number. The first time they were caught red-handed. They also refused to let the police enter their flat on the basis of them having 'lost their key'. Read into that what you like. The second time is as I write this. I'm aware they're limited in what they can do (my partner is a PC so I've heard it all before ) but I figure I may as well make their lives difficult for the remainder of their stay, seeing as they have absolutely no respect for my quality of life.

So to summarise, and also drawing on what others have said - noisy neighbours, nip it in the bud quickly or risk it dragging on for months. If I ever have the pleasure of experiencing this type of situation again, it will be two polite words maximum before it gets official.

wkers.

Edited by V8Matthew on Monday 16th March 20:47

[KFC]

V8Matthew said:

but I figure I may as well make their lives difficult for the remainder of their stay,

That really sounds quite idiotic to be honest.

They're leaving anyway... why encourage them to do something ridiculous to you / your flat / the communal areas before they go??

[cptsideways]

KFC said:

That really sounds quite idiotic to be honest.

They're leaving anyway... why encourage them to do something ridiculous to you / your flat / the communal areas before they go??

Moving on does not cure the problem, hence making their lives miserable for the short term might be enough to give them some of their own medicine. Music when you get up might just do the trick, speak to other neighbours first though and they may join in!

[KFC]

cptsideways said:

Moving on does not cure the problem, hence making their lives miserable for the short term might be enough to give them some of their own medicine. Music when you get up might just do the trick, speak to other neighbours first though and they may join in!

It solves the problem as far as you're concerned - they won't be living next to you any more.

Or be childish if you prefer, wake them up at 7am every day. Then don't be surprised to find a turd in your post box on the day they leave, or your car having no wing mirrors

[anonymous-user]

From my very limited experience their notice period could well be 2 months, so I'd not bother making life difficult for them.

I'm sure they can easily make your life far more difficult if they know they are getting chucked out.