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Noisy neighbours or am I being unreasonable?

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  • kiwigirl
    kiwigirl Posts: 383 Forumite
    The girl who lives on her own the other side of my neighbours told me she shouts at them, I can't hear her, just them and she complains about them too. she moved in within the month of them moving in and she complains about the noise too.

    They are advertising a german shephard in intranet at work....

    Good luck matimage.
  • Wickedkitten
    Wickedkitten Posts: 1,868 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Pssst wrote: »
    As Scotti on the Starship Enterprise says.."yae cannae beat the laws of physics capn.." and so it is that whilst one structure is physically connected to another,there will always be noise transmission. The only way to truly kill it is to live in a physically isolated i.e detached property. even then there could be transmission via air. In flat pack Britian ,there isnt much chance of the majority of us living in detached properties.

    Instead,the house builders fob us off with new,system built properties that are cheap to build but conversely,are expensive to buy.

    How much would it really cost to new build an extra gable end wall to make two new semis into two new detached? Even if there was only 2ft between them,the noise transmission would be dramatically attenuated but no,they fob us off with cheap,communal cardboard boxes and WE buy them and slave our lives to pay for them.

    Surely the easy answer to that is to not buy a new build :confused: We have an older semi and the only thing I hear is the neighbour singing to her dog every so often :rotfl:
    It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
  • toots666
    toots666 Posts: 14 Forumite
    sometimes the noise that sound like dragging furniture is in fact they way they walk and how the sound travels - we have noisy neighbours and we live in a high ceiling victorian flat, normally we don't hear any neighbours at all but the flat above us is a rental place some spoilt students moves in and they are soo heavy footed. they have sanded floorboards so we hear everything. they'll have the washing machine on at 5am in the morning etc play bass guitar, and what sound like thumping and moving furniture noise.
    we complained - and because of the HMO in scotland, we objected their application due to years of torment and distruption.
    they're now ordered to have carpets fitted - and then they're to reapply in august hehe :)
    not sure if they have anything like that in England but worth checking it out.

    If the neighbours are generally ok, then speak to them - if its a couple get one of them over to your house to listen to the other one doing this that and other.... worth a shot..

    good luck!
  • ic
    ic Posts: 3,428 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    jaygrunt wrote: »
    I read somewherew on this site that it is NOT illegal to park in front of someones driveway.
    This is just a myth that is not legally enforceable.
    You can park in front of peoples driveways,its just not very nice to do so,especially if they are your neighbours ;)

    Nope - that used to be the case but no more - take a look at number 86.3 here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040018_en_9#pt6-pb3-l1g86
  • squidge60
    squidge60 Posts: 1,129 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ic wrote: »
    Nope - that used to be the case but no more - take a look at number 86.3 here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040018_en_9#pt6-pb3-l1g86
    yep thats the way i understood it to be,a neighbour 2 doors away hasnt lowered his pavement and has a garage (hes also selling his house)so i hope whoever buys does their homework.;)
  • ndbruton
    ndbruton Posts: 29 Forumite
    EHO here - your local authority EHO's will have powers under s.80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to serve an abatement notice if they can demonstrate a 'statutory nuisance'. Nuisance by its very nature is subjective, meaning that noise limits etc aren't set so each case can be judged on its merits. There's not necessarily a need for noise recording equipment or a sound level meter to be used to demonstrate this, its just a case of demonstrating that somebody elses actions are affecting the enjoyment of your property.

    It will be very difficult to say whether you have grounds or not on the basis of the information provided, as the poor noise insulation at the property is probably a contributing factor as well. On this basis I think that doors closing, going up and down stairs and normal conversation wouldn't warrant any action from the LA unless you can show that they are being unreasonable i.e. being noisy deliberately. The drilling and DIY etc may be a different matter though. However normal procedure in these cases goes something like this:

    1) You contact the LA, they send you out monitoring sheets to log down how and when you are disturbed - a big thing with statutory nuisance is showing that this is something that is occurring frequently and not just a one off. They will also write to the people concerned advising that they have had a complaint and could they perhaps moderate their activities - after all they may be blissfully unaware that they are causing a problem.

    2) If the problem persists, continue to log down the nature and frequency of any disturbances. You'll get visited by an EHO at a time when the nuisance is most problematic. They will then be able to make a better judgement on whether a nuisance exists and take action if it does.

    Do bear in mind though that if it does come to the service on an abatement notice, you may need to attend court to give evidence against your neighbours should they decide to appeal against it. That could obviously lead more tension between yourselves, so consider whether it is best to have a friendly chat with them first if you feel you can.
  • squidworth
    squidworth Posts: 170 Forumite
    jaygrunt wrote: »
    I read somewherew on this site that it is NOT illegal to park in front of someones driveway.
    This is just a myth that is not legally enforceable.
    You can park in front of peoples driveways,its just not very nice to do so,especially if they are your neighbours ;)

    There was something about this on BBC the other week, according to them they researched this and it is totally legal to park across someones driveway (apart from in London which has local rules against parking across a drive).

    However it is not legal to block someone in by parking across the driveway as that is obstruction.

    Or in other words, if you are outside London and the driveway is empty, you can legally park there.

    HTH
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