Noise Complaint - Help

shellyshoe

Hi everyone, i moved into a new apartment few months ago and have just recieved a noise complaint letter from the council and i am so annoyed!! I live on my own and work monday-fri 9-5 but possibly everyother weekend i would have few girls around on fri/sat night for few glasses wine etc. I would have either tv or music on in background but only at level were we can comfortably have conversation over it. I never have parties or play loud music and yes i understand that when a few women get together the giggles can get bit loud at times but this is always wound up by 1.30am at latest.

So you can imagine my annoyance when i came home to a letter from council yesterday regarding a noise complaint. No one has ever come to my door asking me to turn noise down so i havent been aware of it. The Apartment below me is empty so i'm assuming the man living next door made the complaint - that coupled with him giving me dirty looks even i politely say hello to him. I think the problem may be the my tv is against the shared wall in the house but there are no other electrical points in the living room, they are all along the shared wall.

I just dont know what to do now, the letter says the person who made the complaint has been issued with a log book to record my 'loud music/parties' so i feel like i cant even relax in my own home and i'm comstantly worried about the noise level. I have regularly had my two friends round in my old apartment, same level of tv, same girls and my old neighbours never had any issues - i think the person who made the complaint is being very unreasonable, am i not entitled to have a few friends around everyother weekend to unwind after a week at work??

I dont want to go speak to the man next door at the moment because 1) i'm so angry and 2) i have no guarentee it was him and i feel a bit miffed if it was him that he didnt come and raise his concerns first he went straight to the council!

Help - what should i do!

p.s a young couple have just moved into the apartment below me and partied all night (very loud music/lots of people/fights) and were still going at 11 this morning so now i'm concerned the person will not realise someone new has moved in and think its me having the proper party!!

x12yhp

This is a bit of a mess of a situation. A lot of modern apartments are poorly insulated in sound terms and even loud chatter can be audible in the next apartment.

I would get in touch with the council and ask of them what it is that they consider 'reasonable'. They should be able to tell you what times and what 'volume' is acceptable. If you want to ensure you are ok, you can buy a sound pressure level for about £30. You should also press them as to whether anyone has actually measured excessive levels coming which they can confirm as originating in your residence. Make clear the situation with those new neighbours. As far as I would be concerned, they have no legal footing unless they have some real and measured evidence.

I might also be inclined to take the information to the CAB. If they have no evidence then you might be able to accuse them of some sort of harassment. The CAB could surely advise but a letter from your solicitor to the council might well get someone to quit messing you about.

shellyshoe

Many thanks for your advice, the letter from the council said that if log sheets are submitted from the complainant and evidence shows that the complaint may be justified then they will continue the investigation which may include the use of noise monitoring equipment within the complainants premises. It then goes on to say that if the council is satisfied that a noise disturbance exists then has a legal duty to serve a Noise Abatement Notice.

I understand that there has to be a certain level of give and take in apartments and i can clearly hear neighbours but if it is just your everyday goings about i.e. tv, hoover, etc i think that is acceptable. Part of the problem may be that this apartment has been empty for a long while and the neighbour may not be used to any noise. I am long past my student days of parties and look forward to having a chill out drink with my friends on a weekend night and its put a real downer on it when your constantly cringing when someone does a loud laugh or make a noise. I dont want to belittle this persons concerns but i think it is highly unreasonable!

x12yhp

Is it possible that this really is a mistake of identity? Is it possible someone has got the wrong apartment number?! I know you feel discomfort with this but maybe you just have to bite the bullet and talk to the neighbour. It might not be him, of course. But if it is, explain the situation with the new people and ask him to knock on your door if he has any complaints because you genuinely were not aware of a problem.

It is exceptionally childish to report someone to the authorities and, unfortunately, it sounds like you are going to have to be the adult here and solve the situation. I doubt you would actually find yourself in any hot water over all of this, but it might be worth the hassle here and now so that you dont have this hanging over and annoying you,

Best of luck

Torby

perhaps call the council, express the belief that this is unlikely to be you and request they send you copies of "log sheets" so you can monitor noises yourself...

1: that may help eliminate you from the situation and prove that this may be a vindictive atack by a neighbour
2: it may also demonstrate (where one shows similar days and times) that it is some other person within the building.
3: remember noise polution is in the ear of the beholder, and you may not even register on the councils official equipment

MmozzaMc

x12yhp wrote: »

It is exceptionally childish to report someone to the authorities and, unfortunately, it sounds like you are going to have to be the adult here and solve the situation. I doubt you would actually find yourself in any hot water over all of this, but it might be worth the hassle here and now so that you dont have this hanging over and annoying you,

Best of luck

It is exceptionally adult of the other person to report someone who is being noisy - I done so last week after months of noise and my four year old son waking up screaming from the noise of our neighbour (now subject to complaints by three neighbours) - my wife, myself and my son have had to move in with my parents in law in order to get a break from the noise. The truth is that you may be being noisy but may not even realise that you and your friends are being so noisy. I would suggest, prior to blaming the neighbour, that you look at the noise you are making and thing is it actually loud? Don't just listen to the people here who are trying to support you. It is also likely that the Council will go to the neighbour's flat and listen to the noise and if they decide that you are noisy then you really are (believe me they let a lot of noise pass as 'normal').

You might try turning the TV down a bit (if you think it is the TV) or not have your music up so loud - or even change the way the speakers are pointing, are they pointing at the joint wall? If so, point them away from that wall (that can make a big difference) also wall mounted TVs with build in speakers are like having a speaker built into a wall (which is not nice for the person next door). Try using external speakers and move them away from the wall. You might actually find that what your neighbour hears is the bass sound of the tV and your Hifi system and that is really really annoying for anyone, so turn the bass down.

Did you spend a lot of time in nightclubs and raves, have you listened to loud music via headphones? It could be that you don't actually realise how loud your music/TV is because you have hearing damage (surprisingly common today) and so what sounds 'reasonable' to you might actually be very loud to someone with out hearing damage.

mia1830

MmozzaMc wrote: »

It is exceptionally adult of the other person to report someone who is being noisy - I done so last week

I do agree its right to report someone for the noise levels, but I also think you should be adult enough to knock that persons door and explain to them that they are being too loud. Then if it continues report them. The person who reported the OP could be wasting time of the council if the noise isn't that loud, also the problem could have been resolved with a knock at the door. To many services are wasted like this. The OP has said she didn't realise and if she was told she would have been aware!

To the OP, I had a neighbour who put a TV on the wall that seperated our bedrooms and when it was on I could turn my TV to the channel she was watching and use her sound to listen, I wouldn't have minded but it went on late at night and then early in the morning wakening me out of my sleep. But we went and explained to her and there was never a problem since. Maybe if it is your TV what about an extension so you could move it away from the wall. I can see both points of view but they could have asked you 1st. Good luck hope you get it sorted

x12yhp

MmozzaMc wrote: »

It is exceptionally adult of the other person to report someone who is being noisy - I done so last week after months of noise and my four year old son waking up screaming from the noise of our neighbour (now subject to complaints by three neighbours) - my wife, myself and my son have had to move in with my parents in law in order to get a break from the noise. The truth is that you may be being noisy but may not even realise that you and your friends are being so noisy. I would suggest, prior to blaming the neighbour, that you look at the noise you are making and thing is it actually loud? Don't just listen to the people here who are trying to support you. It is also likely that the Council will go to the neighbour's flat and listen to the noise and if they decide that you are noisy then you really are (believe me they let a lot of noise pass as 'normal').

You might try turning the TV down a bit (if you think it is the TV) or not have your music up so loud - or even change the way the speakers are pointing, are they pointing at the joint wall? If so, point them away from that wall (that can make a big difference) also wall mounted TVs with build in speakers are like having a speaker built into a wall (which is not nice for the person next door). Try using external speakers and move them away from the wall. You might actually find that what your neighbour hears is the bass sound of the tV and your Hifi system and that is really really annoying for anyone, so turn the bass down.

Did you spend a lot of time in nightclubs and raves, have you listened to loud music via headphones? It could be that you don't actually realise how loud your music/TV is because you have hearing damage (surprisingly common today) and so what sounds 'reasonable' to you might actually be very loud to someone with out hearing damage.

No. It is childish to report someone without making any attempt to resolve the situation yourself. If you have tried, then it is perfectly reasonable but, otherwise, you are potentially wasting public money (which is short enough as it is).

This would be another case of picking and choosing big brother. Most people whinge away at the thought that big brother is watching... until it suits and then they suddenly change their view. You can't have all these freedoms is you have to run to big brother at every little hazard.

michilin27

Sometimes trying to solve with a neighbour is not possible. I live in an apartment block myself, which is seperated into blocks by letters and then a number so A1 ,B1 etc.. Those in block B1 dont have access to A1 and vice versa. Im at the end of the block so my neighbours are in the next letter so its impossible to approach them due to the noise and often difficult to identifiy where the noise is coming from!

We have had terrible noise during the summer with the great weather and ppl have BBQs during the day and then having parties at night and have had to report noise on one occassion. I was able to identify where the noise was from ( below us) and we had asked for the noise to stop but it didnt. When the noise police came, they were great. They took a reading from our flat, and then went to the neighbours and had a word and the noise stopped. It took them a while to get the door answered but thank god they did!

suki1964

Where I lived before the next door neighbour went ballistic if I even as much sneezed

Honest one night she came banging on the door about 3am becasue she could hear my boiler running ( it was winter the boiler kicked in if the temps fell) that is how bad she was

Come the end we went to arbitration and we had to make some lifestyle changes as like you - sockets were on the party wall

Washing machine not to run after 9pm at night
TV and music centres - removed from party walls ( we used extension cables where needed)

Then after that she was told the rest was perfectly acceptable noise and she had to live with it

Trouble was she was a nery person and lived alone in near complete silence so of course the slightest noise from us she latched onto instead of tuning out. We lived in a terrace and you could hear everything on either side - if you sat in silence - people even having a pee but with normal background noise you just never noticed

shellyshoe

well as the OP i can confirm that the problem was sorted i received a letter from the council to say that they were not taking the matter any further.

As i mentioned a young couple moved in down stairs and they pretty much partied constantly at weekends playing music until 8 in the morning, i did speak to them but it didnt make any difference so i undertstand what it is like to be on the other side. I live on my own, work 9-5, gym most evenings so it is 9 in evening before i'm home and bed by 11 so couldnt possibly make that much noise.

for MmozzaMc i do go to bars once a week and did when i was younger just like most ppl so i dont think there is anything wrong with my hearing. I am not a noise pest i have respect for other peoples privacy and enjoying living in your own home however we are all adults and the sensible thing to do would be to approach the person first and make them aware of the problem and give them an opportunity to rectify it. I believe my neighbour is very unreasonable, the friends who would have visited my house have since moved, my other friends have children and when they visit usually leave by 11 to let babysitter go so there hasnt been any 'noise' past 12 only on one occassion. I had a halloween get together, knocked on neighbours door to let him and neighbours below know, he did answer/wasnt in so i popped note through the letter box. It wasnt a big party 12 people maximum who had all left by 2am however my neighbour stood in garden and spent most of the night staring at everyone who entered and left my house making my guests feel very intimidated but not once did he approach me - completely childish!

I understand how noise is a complete nuisance especially when there are children involved but i also have lived next door to a young family and was repeatedly woke throughout the night for a good 2 years with children screaming and parents shouting at each other but generally people cant complain about that however it is still a nuisance in my eyes to a certain extent.

i havent taken any measures to rearrange my furniture because the tv isnt on that often, an hour or two in evenings and off at 11 at latest but if i have guests over i will look at moving ipod docking station somewhere else if there will be any noise into the evening

thank you all for your tips and help

shelly