Nightmare Neighbour

Zazen999

I'd have said - husband - no husband - the last one died in suspicious circumstances after he kept wingeing about stupid little things like me being noisy....then just stand and stare at them...don't blink just stare........

if your mate makes out that she is slightly more psycho than they are, they might just back off....

Alternatively - give them something to really complain about [make just slightly more than normal noise] and stick a harassment order on them before they get a chance to make a complaint.

andyrules

They may have a point re the 'husband'.

I had these neighbours (similar age group) many moons ago - was at work 7am-7pm and either early to bed or out in the evening. Flat was fully carpeted. They complained almost daily, even said the boiler made an annoying noise when it switched on! The complaints got worse, would watch through the door and close it when I saw them, nasty little notes through the door - all aimed to bully and intimidate - was just a silly power struggle.

Then I met OH, and as soon as they saw him coming and going the complaints stopped.

Some people should live in the middle of a field - and they'd still complain the rabbits kept them up;).

MrsTinks

I'm rather more blunt me...
I'd in no uncertain terms (but calmly and politely) make clear that should they approach me again regarding noise, make any comments about noise or in any way try to threaten me, make me feel uncomfortable or make homophobic comments then I will not only call the police but I WILL start legal procedings to get a restraining order against them and whether they own or not doesn't matter I'm afraid...
If they feel the noise is a problem then they can contact the environmental health department at the council who will be able to assist them with putting in noise measuring devices. If they do that and it's proven the noise is reasonable then your friend can tell them to stuff it!

Makes me so happy that despite living in terraced houses we get on SO well with our neighbours and the insulation is really good and they can't actually hear the baby crying even in the room next to hers 4 years and none of us have had reason to complain yet (Actually we all laughed at the one time we could hear music from next door - our neighbour had the house to herself for an evening and was having a "Grease" night singing along VERY loudly to the whole sound track - we thought it was hillarious! :rotfl:)

pipkin71

Living underneath someone, and properties not being so insulated against noise can't be fun - especially where the couple are elderly.

Although people assume they aren't making too much noise - we have no idea of the noise levels another can tolerate.

I have neighbours who are currently being quite noisy - music, coming and going, loud voice levels outside at ridiculous times in the early hours, and they annoy me, but, I also suffer from insomnia, feel I can't sleep when there is noise and listen out for every little sound.

In fairness, although they are going overboard with some of the noise they are making, I'm also aware that it annoys me more, because of my own tolerance too.

How about the friend having a chat with the neighbours underneath, to talk about the noise situation rather than ending up feeling unhappy in their flat because of the neighbours.

Edited to add: have just read further down the thread to this

valos_mummy wrote: »

edit to say: I've advised her to just call the police and keep a journal if they do anything else now. Just found out that they'd told her to get her "husband" to deal with things, she told them she didn't have one, then it was "boyfriend" and she said no, don't have one of those either! And when they eventually cottoned on that her flatmate is gay they had some rather homophobic things to say about that! The woman apparently is an alcoholic who sits on her bum drinking wine all day. And the husband is a mysoginist (sp!) whom, when his wife came to back him up in his latest rant told her she could shut up too!!

the neighbours do seem to have taken a dislike to your friend, but I would still suggest keeping it civil, and if there is no reasoning to be had, then do as others have suggested and keep a record of the problems the neighbours are causing.

view

Yes, try to keep it civil, ask your friend to keep a book of all the times they complain to & what they say. We had issues with noise from a shop below a door that slammed so loudly it shook my windows and TV continually throughout the day. We were really civil and my OH even offered to fix the arm of the door (all it needed was gas!) to stop the slamming... they did nothing for months and months so eventually we contacted the council who dealt with noise complaints. They sent a representative quite a few times who sat in our loungroom & bedroom at different times of the day - they deemed it overly excessive every time they visited and advised the shop they would revoke their liquor licence if they didn't fix it... that was 2 years ago and we've not heard the door since...

I would record it as much as possible, times, dates what was said. I agree with the good advice above to try and keep things civil no matter how difficult it will be. Get in contact with the council to advise of the situation so there is a record. Sorry they're having so much hassle with the new lovely flat - stay strong.

BallandChain

From what I've read on other threads, if a person owns their own home and makes an official complaint about neighbours then if they come to sell up it has to go down on record that there has been problems with neighbours. In which case, if this elderly couple continue to harrass and should they decide to take it further, it would mean they effectively shoot themselves in the foot. I'd be surprised if this elderly couple would take this further given it would impede any flat sale should they decide to sell up.

Savvy_Sue

BallandChain wrote: »

I'd be surprised if this elderly couple would take this further given it would impede any flat sale should they decide to sell up.

Unless they intend to be taken out in a box ...

BallandChain

In which case the OP's friends have nothing to worry about....

warehouse

OK, I read through all the posts and the elderly people do seem to be in the wrong, but think about this:

Elderly people usually go to be quite early, shall we say 10.30pm? Your friends on the 2nd night had people over and a Pizza delivered after 11. That would mean at least another 1 - 2 hours of chatting, perhaps music? Maybe they could be a little more considerate after 10pm? See how it goes?

Buttonmoons

Thing is though, people should be able to talk to whomever they like in their own home, regardless of time (I mean talk, not laughing screaming etc)

I have a neighbour below me who hates me, reports me to the housing officer constantly (or did). They aren't very old, about 60 tops, have bought that flat and from the way she sits outside the building gossiping, you'd think she owned the whole place. What she has a problem with, is my DD walking/running too loudly. She's a child! What can I do? She used to come to my door, screaming and shouting about the noise, demanding to see my house to see if I had laminate flooring (I don't, carpet & underlay), said she had made the last "noisy lot" move out (they had actually bought a house, and I can see why, they also had a 3yo, I see a pattern) saying the noise had made her resort to prozac. As soon as ANY noise came from my flat (like DD falling over) she'd be banging up with a broom on her ceiling. She was making ME A WRECK!

I found myself shouting at DD about walking too loudly, because I was constantly on edge for the knock at the door. Push came to shove when the housing officer phoned AGAIN and told me to get my DD to be quieter (She was already walking around on tiptoes and wearing slippers) and I told him what did he expect me to do? Duct tape her to the wall? If this woman didn't want an issue of noise from above her (and I don't throw partys, or have friends round etc etc) she shouldn't of bought a flat in a multi storey council skyscraper! I said to him that if she came to my door again I'd phone the police and get a restraining order (No idea if I could even do that!) and that if she didn't quit banging on my ceiling, then I'd start jumping everytime I heard a noise from HER house (which is actually very often as they seem to be a fan of the drill at 11pm) He must of passed the message on as I have had no more trouble from her, the mad thing is, DD is in bed by 8pm each night, and most times she was screeching at my door at about 3pm, It's hardly supposed to be a quiet time is it?