Excessive noise due to refurbishment next door

ChrisCobra

Hi all , just a quick one.

I'm a private tenant and the council are refurbishing the apartment next to us but the noise is absolutely dreadful. Its also scaring the crap out of my daughter and the walls are actually vibrating....

Is there any steps i can take or any regulations they must adhere to regarding noise. We werent even informed they were going to be doing the work , we also share our letterbox / front door with the council as well and they havent even picked up their mail for over a year :rolleyes:

Thanks in advance.

Robert_Sterling_3

What happens to their post?

Obukit

There are no exact laws regarding noise - you are entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of your property but you also have to be reasonable as all property will require work on it from time to time.

In general councils will seldom proceed with noise complaints if the noise is kept within reasonable times (often judged as weekday days and Saturday mornings). It's not automatically a problem if the walls are vibrating as, in the end, if the walls require work this is to be expected.

Your best bet is to contact the council department responsible for the works and try and come to a compromise informally - you may find they will be finishing soon anyway, and can arrange for the post to be collected at the same time.

ChrisCobra

Collects in the hallway , ive told them about it , dont seem to care.

ChrisCobra

They've quietened down now anyway. Don't think ill pursue it. Maybe they were getting all the noisy stuff out the way.

And i know they have to make noise to get work done as im a site engineer / manager :rolleyes:

Thanks anyway:beer:

pogofish

Check with your local council website - they should all now have a team for pursuing different aspects of antisocial behaviour.

Very broadly (again, check local variations), they should be confining their work to between 8am & 10pm, with the noise reducing from around 8pm on weekdays and less on Sat/Sun.

It is not impossible to pursue a complaint for outside these hours as noise can be a problem at any time but you will have to work harder to prove disturbance, so it is important for you to keep a diary of just when it happens & if an approach/attempt at negotiation fails, they can install a metering device to confirm if it does go out of acceptable limits during the hours when you could normally be expected to have to put-up with some disturbance. Then more serious action can be taken.

As for the mail, there will probably be a duty to keep common areas clear & safe in your tennancy agreement (as you will probably have in your deeds) - invoke that.

OK if they have quietened down but you should check-up just in case it becomes a problem in future.