Help please noisy upstairs neighbours running up and down on wooden floors

olly300

Ulfar wrote: »

It should be law that people in flats with someone below them cannot have laminate or wooden flooring. It should also be made illegal for people to wear shoes inside in flats, I know this is extreme but feet and socks make much less noise unless you are an elephant.

Some leases actually exempt kitchens and bathrooms from clauses that the floors have to be carpeted.

Also as already stated it depends on how the building is built or converted.

Good conversions ensure the same room is over the same room i.e. kitchens over kitchens, and there is adequate sound proofing between flats.

goldbyron

I would agree with other posters that there may be something in the lease re: laminate flooring. Unfortunately conversions are terrible for sound proofing. I have just sold mine (it was in the middle) and I will never ever buy a flat again - the noise travel was awful. My partner has a top floor conversion in the same block (we are selling this as well to get a house!) however the sound proofing is much better up there. I think as it is the loft flat the insulation between floor/ceiling is much better. It also helps being on top as you don't get the feet padding up and down which happens whether there is carpet or flooring. Your neighbour will not want to go to court I am guessing and maybe she could spend her money on sound proofing her ceiling in the rooms where it is most needed. She could also write to the freeholder but make it clear it is the LL that she is complaining about and not the tenants. However (and this is no excuse for the arrogant LL) ground floor flats are not the timid or for anyone with clear hearing - I would rather choose to live in a park home or canal boat than a flat ever again.

neverdespairgirl

neas wrote: »

Dont get a ground floor flat, or any flat with someone living aboth you... unless you can put up with some noise... i've lived in 4-5 flats, most were above other people and the last was in the middle..... and let me tell you.... over a span of 5-10 years you WILL have someone doing one or most of the following:

I live in a central London flat, with flats above and below ours.

I've never heard noise from the other two flats - never. We have wood flooring, as do our upstairs neighbours, but the flats are properly insulated. Even when our baby son yelled his head off in the middle of the night, the neighbours couldn't hear him!

ksuk

We live in a converted house and have a very noisey neighbour above us, she owns her flat wheras we rent ours. We constantly hear her walking or rather stomping around as if she has bricks for feet even though we have asked her to keep the noise down she seems to thrive on the fact that she is becoming a nuisance and so when she has guests over they continually walk up and down slamming things, dropping things etc... I was wondering even though she owns her flat because she has wooden flooring throughout where do we stand on getting her to lay carpet down? Its becoming unbearable and we are considering moving. Take last night for example.. continuous noise until 4am!

Any advice would be a great help

Yorkie1

ksuk, why don't you follow all the advice given in the posts previously in this thread. Have you read them?

ksuk

Yes i have but because our flat is rented and above is her own flat i thought there might be slightly different rules legally with regards to the flooring etc..

Eric1

ksuk wrote: »

Yes i have but because our flat is rented and above is her own flat i thought there might be slightly different rules legally with regards to the flooring etc..

As a tenant, you have the right to quiet enjoyment, and

olly300 wrote: »

It's not up to the tenants to sort the flooring out it's up to the landlord...

princeofpounds

Quiet enjoyment is an obligation of the landlord (or freeholder) to the tenant (or leaseholder). It doesn't specifically refer to noise levels despite the phrase 'quiet' - it is much more to do with the right to lack of interference. However, if the landlord/freeholder has been found to be neglecting their obligation as laid down in law or the lease, for example permitting the ripping up of carpet contrary to the lease, they might be liable under this principle.

But in law there isn't really any requirement for noise insulation standards in pre-existing properties AFAIK, only new ones. There is some protection over noise itself but typically normal living, even if noisy, does not fall under its remit. It's a bit of a black hole in the law perhaps.

This isn't for the upstairs tenants to fix. They would not, in theory, be allowed to put down carpet without the LL's instruction even if they wanted to.

olly300

ksuk the only difference with the law is that on an AST if you continually complain about the leaseholder above you making everyday noise, you will be the one given notice by your landlord.

If you can continuously hear them dropping things then it's an indication of poor insulation and poor building construction as you shouldn't be able to hear people above you drop things unless something heavy falls or the person collapses.

Instead of complaining and then eventually being forced out by your landlord for being a difficult tenant, I would look for somewhere else to live as soon as possible.

I know of more than one tenant who complained about noise and was given notice by the landlord because the noise they were complaining about the people above them making was everyday noise.

If you do move into a flat again then:
1. Avoid converted houses
2. Try and meet the neighbours as soon as possible. If the first time you meet them is to complain about something then you will get their back up immediately.