Help: Big problem with noisy neighbours

warehouse

dander wrote: »

It sounds like madness to me to not want to do anything to tackle the issue because you don't want to affect any possible sales in the future, but instead to just live with a noise level that is driving you mad, and making you more likely to want to move.
Surely it's better to try and tackle it by whatever means so your property is nice to live in, and if you sell you can say, "yes we did have a trouble with noise from next door, but it's dealt with now"

If the noise is unreasonable, speak to them. Knock on their door every single night if neccessary - maybe everyone has been so scared to make a fuss that they don't realise how bad the noise is. Give them a chance to do something about it as decent humans. If that gets nowhere talk to environmental health, go through the full process properly and get the problem dealt with - if he's already got a noise order that he's breaching then you'll have a head start.

As things are, when/if you sell, you still might have to do viewings with the noise blaring from next door and in that case declaring a dispute will be the least of your worries.

I hear what your saying Dander, but what if my complaining and getting environmental health involved makes things worse? What if we decide to sell up and that stops the buyers in an already scary market for sellers?

warehouse

I'm going there tonight and won't leave the doorstep until I've spoken to them. I shall be calm, I shall not raise my voice, but I will make sure that this is addressed.

I shall report back later.

donnaessex

Good luck - I really dont understand people who have no thought whatsoever for their neighbours.

Look forward to hearing how it went.

dander

warehouse wrote: »

I hear what your saying Dander, but what if my complaining and getting environmental health involved makes things worse? What if we decide to sell up and that stops the buyers in an already scary market for sellers?

You are living in a house where your own children can't sleep and you are too afraid to do anything about it? How can it get worse?

donnaessex

dander wrote: »

You are living in a house where your own children can't sleep and you are too afraid to do anything about it? How can it get worse?

I cant speak for warehouse but I can say that for myself, I was terribly worried about the repercussions of going round there. I did go round there (often) but I think if I'd brought the authorities in then it would have escalated and I wouldnt have felt safe with two babies in the house - it was that intense.

I just made it my mission to get out of there as soon as I could.

dander

But don't you think a lot of the reason they feel able to just ignore polite requests is because they know you're too scared to do anything about it?

There are all kind of systems in place to help people in situations like this, to just walk away from them because you decide before you even start that they won't work is not going to solve the situation. But to follow through the correct procedures might solve it.

It's just giving in to bullying to just not deal with it. You don't have to just run and tell tales - you can try and talk to them, explain you want to sort it without reporting them, make an effort to be amicable. If that doesn't work, the reason the council have a process to follow with testing and noise diaries is to be sure that things are dealt with on a factual basis and is fair to everyone.
If the people next door are unreasonable, they could end up in court, getting a hefty fine, having the drum kit confiscated - there are a lot of incentives for them to control their noise once a process is in place.

The only way you can absolutely guarantee things will not get better is to do nothing about it.

dander

warehouse wrote: »

What if we decide to sell up and that stops the buyers in an already scary market for sellers?

What if you decide to sell up and every time anyone comes to view, he's playing the drums?

anotherginger

mrs-h wrote: »

we found the council etc useless as they wanted us to keep a journal over a period of months and then maybe fit a machine to observe noise levels???? Why cant they just come and sort it eh?

no doubt your council will have explained to you that there needs to be evidence to take a prosecution to court. how else would there be proof if you didn't keep a diary/make recordings?

councils can only work within the legislation they are given. it seems like you were the useless one who couldn't be bothered to gather the proof!

deedee71

dander wrote: »

What if you decide to sell up and every time anyone comes to view, he's playing the drums?

I'm pretty sure buyers have the right to sue if you have withheld material information - like neighbours from hell.

My parents eventually got their downstairs neighbour evicted. The were on first name terms with all the noise abatement team and did the diary thing for several months. They didn't need to go to the court. The team went instead and took my mum's diary as evidence.

Norman_Castle

I put up with noisy neighbors for 18 years.The woman next door enjoyed a drink and used to fill her flat with drunks after closing time at least 3 times a week.They would leave around 4am.Her living room was the other side of the wall to my bedroom.It is over a year since the noise has stopped and I now live a normal life.I am also now very intolerant of unnesesary noise.I complain whenever something bothers me.I genuinly do not care if people are unhappy about my complaints.I have had my share of other peoples noise.I have had my fill.You do not deserve to have your life at home destroyed by other people.You have a right to peace and quiet.Complain to the police and the council.Keep a record of every time the noise affects you and ask your family to do the same.Even if you only look at this yourself it will help you gain perspective on the problem.I recently looked through notes I had made and was reminded just how bad things used to be even though at the time it felt relatively normal.Contact the police and council today by phone or email informally just to find out what options are availiable to you.I expect this problem will be much easier to solve than you think.Good luck.