Noisy neighbor on benefits- would council do anything?

RobinC_2

For the past couple years, I've been dealing with a noisy neighbor- a single mother on benefits who likes to "pump up the jam" between 10p.m. to, oh say, 7 a.m. After a year long process of asking her nicely, writing her nice letters, having the Council send her letters, having noise enforcement officers down, having a huge fight with her at 6:30 one morning, etc, things have vastly improved. (I made a big mistake though by putting up with it for almost two years before saying anything- out of fear, really, then just got sick of it.)
However, a trend is starting up again - in the last six weeks or so there have been a few occasions (like last night), where the music started at 10p.m and went to around 1:30 a.m. It wasn't as loud as she used to play it, but loud enough to hear the faint "boom, boom, boom", through the bedroom- I put the fan on and covers over my head which helped. I'm worried it's going to continue, as once she starts up again, it tends to get more frequent. I am a light sleeper but I think that's besides the point. (As I write now at 11:30 a.m. and they're still asleep, typical).

Her house is privately owned and the owner rents it out to the Council/Housing Association, so in effect, she is a Coucil tenant. Should I contact them to let them know about their tenant and what we've put up with if things get worse again? Would they actually do anything? If the Council put her in there, couldn't they take her out? The Council's "noise dept" that I've dealt with don't seem to have much to say or advice to offer about the fact that she's a council tenant and not a private tenant.

I reported her before to benefit fraud when her old boyfriend was living with her; I thought maybe they'd speak to her, but now the new boyfriend has been living here full time for well over seven months, at least. He doesn't seem to work at all. (they had a huge fight in the middle of the street recently at about 2 a.m. , not the first time - I prefer that to the loud music though!) I'm wondering it it's worth to report the new guy living with her.

I'm out of work and feeling anxious about as time goes on and relying on my husband's salary to pay for everything is putting a strain on things- in the meantime, she gets it all paid for, doesn't seem right and putting up with her sh!te makes it all seem worse. We stay because our rent is much cheaper than normal and we're trying to save what we can to one day buy and make our escape.

So, is contacting the Council /Housing Association worth it if things get worse? And who would I contact specifically? I feel for anybody out there who has had to put up with this, it's awful and you feel helpless in a way.

Sorry about the long post.Thanks for any suggestions.

justsayyes

I don't even understand the title of this thread. How does the fact she's on benefits make the council any more likely to do anything about her noise than if she was a £100k a year executive?

You seem extremely resentful of the fact that she gets benefits. Since you're out of work, maybe you can apply for some benefits yourself. That might make you feel a little less angry.

duchy

So she shows you all her benefit statements does she....or is there another way to actually KNOW what she is claiming.
I'm sorry but I think you're transferring your anxiety about being out of work onto other things-Forget about running to the council and trying to get her evicted-you've already reported her and it hasn't worked -concentrate on jobhunting and I bet she won't irritate you nearly so much once you have a job and fewer worries. Stress loves company !

emmy05

ring CAB and ask them what you can do now, as the council have written letters to her before, if you feel you must report her benefit wise, then do so, but they could be claiming benefits as one unit now anyway

richiebradford

justsayyes wrote: »

I don't even understand the title of this thread. How does the fact she's on benefits make the council any more likely to do anything about her noise than if she was a £100k a year executive?

Well that's the question the OP is asking. Will the fact the council is paying her rent make them more inclined to to something about her behavior. Sadly I would imagine not.

You seem extremely resentful of the fact that she gets benefits. Since you're out of work, maybe you can apply for some benefits yourself. That might make you feel a little less angry.

From reading the original post I didn't get the impression that the OP was resentful of the fact the neighbor is on benefits at all. He/She has simply come here to ask some advice on a very unpleasant situation.

PasturesNew

I think too much emphasis has been put here on the OP's post and the neighbour on benefits.

But it is annoying if somebody whose sole income is from benefits is disrupting the life of a hard working or self-supporting person, who is ultimately giving up their life Mon-Fri 8-6 to pay taxes to pay for their dysfunctional lifestyle.

Yes, the OP has anxiety/stress from not currently working herself. But the fact is that independent of that she has a very annoying neighbour.

It is possible that the bf might be living there legally (claiming benefits as a couple). If he's not working then they'd collect more benefits. So there's probably no reporting to be done there.

It is true that you don't know what they're claiming for.

The issue here really is how to deal with their anti-social behaviour/noise. And I don't know. You've done everything already. All you can do probably is keep going through the motions of complaining and keeping a diary of events.

sooz

As others have said, the benefits she receives are totally irrelevant here.

You need to contact Enviromental Health every single time she disturbs you with her noise, particularly after a reasonable hour. Most EH offices shut at 3 or 4 (council hours ) but have a 24 hour answerphone, & will check messages and send teams out til about 11pm on weekdays, and 2am at weekends. Even if they don't come out to witness the disturbance, they will log your complaint. Keep your own disturbance diary too.

You should also write to her LL, & explain the problems you have been having. Include a copy of your diary, & give your reference number from the EH. LL's are now responsible for the anti-social behaviour of their tenants.

RobinC_2

Thanks, Richiebradford. I wish the other people who posted could trade places with me and see what it's like to have music pumping through your walls at 5 a.m. on a regular basis or to listen to the screaming/shouting fights we've had to listen to (police used to be here regularly), and have them literally fight in the middle of the road.
The neighbor on the other side is also very frustrated with it but is too afraid to really get involved, she's afraid they would retaliate if they suspected she rang the Council and told me not to in case they thought it was her. She works long hours and as she says, her house is empty too many hours a day, she's afraid they'd do something to it.

Duchy- when I was working , being woken up at 5 a.m. wasn't nice when I had to get up at 6a.m. to go to work. So no, having a job would still make it stressful. My neighbor says that's the problem too, she also gets woken up by loud music a couple of hours before she has to go to work and like me, finds it hard to fall asleep again. Also, why don't you suggest that SHE concentrate on getting a job?


Thanks again, richie- if these people had to put up with her perhaps they'd feel frustrated too and wouldn't be so quick to rush to her defense. Eish.

RobinC_2

Thanks, sooz and pastures. How would I find out who the landlord is? That's the question I was asking- the Council put her in (that I know), so that's why I was thinking I could contact them, as I said, the Council in a way is her landlord as they put her in the house, not the owner of the house.

TriffidQueen

Get back onto the council. Obviously this person has no respect for anyone else. I'ld report her again to the dss if she is living with a man whos working and she is not declaring it. You can do it online anonomously. If the council won't do anything write to your local MP, it's the only thing the council respond to as they hate being named and shamed.

foreversummer

Hi RobinC

I haven't any real advice here at all, but I do fully sympathise with you. I've suffered noisy neighbours over the years and unless experienced nobody actually realises how much it affects your life.

Its taken us 16 years to move up the property ladder to a detached house (sheer bliss!). Nothing would make us go back to being attached in any shape or form. Go with your dream of saving and making your own way out.

I really hope someone is able to suggest a way to help you, but we have never found anyone able to help including once when we contacted our local MP for support.

Foreversummer