Laminate floorboards/noise complaints

wubbue_2

cats! wrote: »

if she persists in causing harrassment etc her lease could be "forfeited" by the freeholder/owner, i.e. out the door with no financial compensation. Mortgage is still owed in those circumstances too. Used a clause like this once before.

ooh! i'm going to dig out my leaseholders' agreement now!

Pink_fluff

I had an issue similar in a flat I used to rent. The upstairs neighbour was a young mother with about 4 young children in a medium sized 2 bed flat. She was an absolute horror. Also had laminate flooring, kids used to jump off beds, scream, used to play music very, very loud. I used to have to sleep on the couch, as the noise they made above my bedroom was too bad. I contacted the council and filled in one of those noise diaries and contacted the police constantly, but in the end the council nor Police could do anything. And the landlord ended up putting some sort of sound proofing in my flat when i moved out. But the upstairs neighbour had her flat paid for by the council, but they never once tried to force her to take out the laminate and put in carpets!!! Where's the sense! the council seem to take the side of the wrong person!

olly300

Pink_fluff babies crying and kids playing legally doesn't count as noise.

When you make complaints to any legal authority it's best to determine what counts as something you can complain about otherwise you will get your entire complaint dismissed.

BTW OP why is there no underlay between your carpet and the laminate? Underlay stops the carpet wearing out and also if you had another layer of underlay you could quite clearly state the layers of flooring definitely stop the noise.

wubbue_2

Hmmm. I think this is the bit I'm looking for...

"THE FOURTH SCHEDULE: Regulations
3. Not to do or permit or suffer in or upon the Demised Premises or any part thereof any sale by auction or any illegal or immoral act or any act or thing which may be or become a nuisance or annoyance or cause damage to the Lessors or the tenants of the Lessors or the occupiers or any part of the Building or of any adjoining or neighbouring premises"

Not quite as strong as harrassment or abusive behaviour unfortunately but it's the most relevant I can find. So cats, when you used this clause against someone before how did you go about it? I'd appreciate some advice from someone who's been there!

BTW, also found this bit:

"15. At all times to cover and keep covered with carpet and underlay the floors of the Demised Premises"

Doesn't say no laminates between the underlay and carpet!

poppysarah

wubbue wrote: »

The tenants are putting in official complaints about her now, even to the police for abuse (as I said, the situation is really escalating), but as you point out she "got in" first so seems to have the upper hand with the council :-( Very frustrating because we know how unreasonable she is from personal experience.


. If noise is caused by neighbours' normal actions, ie not blaring music or having parties, then surely one has to learn to live with it?

You lived there and experienced problems so I'd put that in writing to them too. Be as specific as possible - your history of problems has to be important. It does seem unfair when the council only take notice of one side.

Normal noise yes absolutely. Defining normal is hard.

olly300

wubbue wrote: »

Hmmm. I think this is the bit I'm looking for...

"THE FOURTH SCHEDULE: Regulations
3. Not to do or permit or suffer in or upon the Demised Premises or any part thereof any sale by auction or any illegal or immoral act or any act or thing which may be or become a nuisance or annoyance or cause damage to the Lessors or the tenants of the Lessors or the occupiers or any part of the Building or of any adjoining or neighbouring premises"

Not quite as strong as harrassment or abusive behaviour unfortunately but it's the most relevant I can find. So cats, when you used this clause against someone before how did you go about it? I'd appreciate some advice from someone who's been there!

BTW, also found this bit:

"15. At all times to cover and keep covered with carpet and underlay the floors of the Demised Premises"

Doesn't say no laminates between the underlay and carpet!

For the first one I will send you a PM.

For the second one use some common sense.

Pink_fluff

olly300 wrote: »

Pink_fluff babies crying and kids playing legally doesn't count as noise.

When you make complaints to any legal authority it's best to determine what counts as something you can complain about otherwise you will get your entire complaint dismissed.

BTW OP why is there no underlay between your carpet and the laminate? Underlay stops the carpet wearing out and also if you had another layer of underlay you could quite clearly state the layers of flooring definitely stop the noise.

This wasn't normal noise! Believe me! Any time we complained, they used to come down stairs and shout abuse and threatening rubbish through the letter box. this was all due to the fact that they had put in laminate flooring without the insulation beneath it, hence we heard everything. But they were excessively noisey. Some neighbours are just unreal eh!

wubbue_2

Pink_fluff wrote: »

I had an issue similar in a flat I used to rent. The upstairs neighbour was a young mother with about 4 young children in a medium sized 2 bed flat. She was an absolute horror. Also had laminate flooring, kids used to jump off beds, scream, used to play music very, very loud. I used to have to sleep on the couch, as the noise they made above my bedroom was too bad. I contacted the council and filled in one of those noise diaries and contacted the police constantly, but in the end the council nor Police could do anything. And the landlord ended up putting some sort of sound proofing in my flat when i moved out. But the upstairs neighbour had her flat paid for by the council, but they never once tried to force her to take out the laminate and put in carpets!!! Where's the sense! the council seem to take the side of the wrong person!

Funny how they take a strong position when it's not the council who has to foot the bill but an independent landlord! Tbf tho I'd imagine it's almost impossible to keep 4 kids quiet! Carpet definitely would have made a difference.

Olly 300, we went for a carpet at the cheaper end of the scale and the guy in the carpet shop said that underlay wouldn't be necessary with that type of carpet.

Pink_fluff

forgot to say that, we had the noise measured or however you would word it by council. Kept a 'noise diary' for months on end, phoned the police endless times. In the end all the council could do was offer us 'mediation' Which would involve myself and the offending upstairs neighbour (who was very far from being a reasonable person) sitting in a room together trying to sort out the blooming noise. I agreed to this, but she declined. And we couldn't go any further. So I moved out and my landlord had to fit some kind of sound proofing to the flat.

wubbue_2

olly300 wrote: »

For the first one I will send you a PM.

For the second one use some common sense.

Yeah OK I was being cheeky!