What is a reasonable amount of noise to put up from neighbours?

sunshinetours

If you live in s semi then you will certainly get noise through the walls. What you do for work is of no consequence unfortunately. Could you get a cabin for the garden to work in? Could you soundproof the adjoining walls. You lose some space but gain some relief

Whilst your neighbour may not be particularly thoughtful it could simply be down to very poor insulation and the music may not be that loud. First house I ever lived in was a semi and if I was deathly quiet I could hear my neighbours conversation almost and certainly any TV or music noise. It drove me mad so I vowed to buy a detached house only ever since

Noise cancelling earplugs certainly would be the cheapest option from all of this

Mankysteve

As long as it not at unsocial hoursn (8pm to 8am?) there not a lot you can do about them.n It part of living in a joined house I'm afraid. Its choice of better sound insulation,noise cancelling headphone or just put with.

New build are built very cheaply and not as heavy material as older house and tend to allow sounds to pass though easier.

dander

It's tricky. I can see your point, but at the same time it's not up to them to provide you with a perfect working environment. Ultimately you are working in a residential property and you have to take the fact that you want quiet to work completely out of the equation and simply decide if the music is too inconsiderately loud for you to go about normal home-life, watching TV, cleaning, washing or whatever. If they are listening to music in the middle of the day in their own home, I think it would have to be very loud indeed to be considered a noise nuisance.

If you're in the room adjoining the one that their stereo is in and you are sitting in perfect silence then the chances are you'll hear it, even if it's quiet - I live in a very solid old semi, but if I sit in perfect silence in my living room, I can hear the elderly lady next door talking on the telephone, I can also hear her hoover, sneeze etc etc - but as soon as I turn the television on, I don't hear it at all.

Also it's dangerous to judge the neighbours by reported behaviour with your tenants - you don't know what the facts of the story really are - whether there was any other tension - it may have been "don't you dare tell me what to do (when you were playing your music at top volume at midnight last night)". Try to start with a clean slate with them because if you can have a civil relationship with them, they are much more likely to give you respect.

Pythagorous

some very valid points there Dander. Thanks - sometimes its all too easy to be biased when viewing the situation.

amcluesent

>don't seem to work a lot of the time<

Worth keeping a log of their activities and giving the benefit fraud hotline a bell.

They sound typical low lives/chavs so will definitely be working a scam somewhere on benefits, tax evasion, dealing blow etc.

RX-78

I think you are entitled to peaceful living. Trouble is, your neighbour is also entitled to "peaceful living" - and if his view of peaceful is playing out music, it makes it difficult to force his hands unless it is obviously unreasonable.

I would say the best approach is to have informal chats as you've done - perhaps explain why you are upset and even invite him around to show him the sound thats penetrating through? If all fails and you are getting fed up, you might need to consider either cutting the losses, sell up and move away or making a formal complaint to environ agency. Latter obviously carries a risk of having to disclose "neighbour dispute" when you come to sell the house.

laurz121

You say that you can hear the music but dont think the noise is excessive, that to me sounds like they are playing the music at a reasonable volume and you can just hear it because of the quietness of your home, if it was actually loud you would know it is.

I dont think you've said yet, do you work in a room that adjoins your neighbours house or one on the other side of your property? That makes a huge difference to how I personally would interprate your post.

Also you say your neighbour just says 'fine' but you also said that you have been round a few times and theyve always turned the music down. Perhaps they say fine and close the door because theyre fed up of you going round complaining when they are listening to music or the tv at a normal volume. They might feel a bit like prisoners in their own home who arent even allowed to listen to the radio because their neighbour complains at everything. I'm not saying you do complain at everything, just that it might be how they feel.

Pythagorous

laurz121 wrote: »

You say that you can hear the music but dont think the noise is excessive, that to me sounds like they are playing the music at a reasonable volume and you can just hear it because of the quietness of your home, if it was actually loud you would know it is.

I dont think you've said yet, do you work in a room that adjoins your neighbours house or one on the other side of your property? That makes a huge difference to how I personally would interprate your post.

Also you say your neighbour just says 'fine' but you also said that you have been round a few times and theyve always turned the music down. Perhaps they say fine and close the door because theyre fed up of you going round complaining when they are listening to music or the tv at a normal volume. They might feel a bit like prisoners in their own home who arent even allowed to listen to the radio because their neighbour complains at everything. I'm not saying you do complain at everything, just that it might be how they feel.

It is loud, but my point is how loud is reasonable!? The room is mid way in my house so not next to their wall. I've only been round 3 or 4 times in the same number of years! There have been many loud parties with extremely loud noise well into the early hours however as these are few and far between I don't feel the urge to complain.

I can very slightly hear their TV, but obviously would never complain about that. If I was to guess I'd say the music was about 3 times the volume of a normal TV.

Blackpool_Saver

I would hate to live in an attached house

C_Mababejive

You cant do anything about it.

You are suffering from BTL blight.

The neighbours are likely to be ill mannered dolehoppers with far too much energy.

Buy some ear plugs.

Turn your music up loud when they and their brats are trying to sleep.