Oh woe is me (bad previous rented properties)

slopemaster

Sorry, but that sounds quite reasonable to me - if you want to get out of your contract, then you have to pay the costs of the new contract.

Fire_Fox

A few suggestions
1. WAX ear plugs. If you put these in right they block out an incredible amount of noise and you cannot feel them at all
2. Visit your GP. There are many conditions for which increased noise sensitivity is a symptom, no you don't have to be sensitive to all noise types. You may be suited to a medication or talking therapy
3. Download sounds of nature or classical music or something that you find soothing and use this to drown out or distract you from noise where appropriate
4. Review your diet and lifestyle; be sure you are meeting or exceeding ALL our government's recommendations for healthy eating and physical activity. Regular exercise and targeted eating plans are proven to calm the body and brain/ reduce stress. Interestingly magnesium deficiency can cause hypersensitivity to noise, and magnesium has 'relaxing/ calming' properties.

SternMusik

Fire_Fox wrote: »

A few suggestions
1. WAX ear plugs. If you put these in right they block out an incredible amount of noise and you cannot feel them at all
2. Visit your GP. There are many conditions for which increased noise sensitivity is a symptom, no you don't have to be sensitive to all noise types. You may be suited to a medication or talking therapy
3. Download sounds of nature or classical music or something that you find soothing and use this to drown out or distract you from noise where appropriate
4. Review your diet and lifestyle; be sure you are meeting or exceeding ALL our government's recommendations for healthy eating and physical activity. Regular exercise and targeted eating plans are proven to calm the body and brain/ reduce stress. Interestingly magnesium deficiency can cause hypersensitivity to noise, and magnesium has 'relaxing/ calming' properties.

This is very good advice. I have a lot of sympathy with the OP as I am also extremely sensitive to noise. I sleep with earplugs (I have personally moulded ones made from silicone), and I generally hear noises really loudly that others may not notice at all. I also have perfect pitch but I am not sure the two are related.

In dealing with noise issues I found that personal attitude plays a big role. It is possible to change your frame of mind and be less annoyed at the noise. You will always notice it; the key is to become relaxed about it. Difficult at first, I know!

I have been disturbed by noise in all properties I have lived in so far. In March this year I bought a house (semi-detached) and quickly realised that I can hear the neighbours' conversation through the party wall (the place was quite shoddily built in the 1990s). I can hear their music, the opening and closing of their front door, and even their washing machine (just washing, not even on spin cycle). I am however really happy in this place, the location is fantastic, all my neighbours are wonderful, and therefore I decided to not let a bit of noise ruin my happy feelings in this house.

I never thought I'd be able to apply this psychological trick, but it has worked out really well. If your life is otherwise happy, and you are balanced, do some exercise and stimulate your mind, you may be able to turn things around and don't suffer as much from noise intrusion.

Good luck, hope it works out well for you.

Desperado99

damtheman wrote: »

I'm almost 30. How dire.

I felt for you right up until this point

Seriously though..... I hope your next move is a better one. We are currently in the process of moving from our 2 bed end terrace, we can hear next door every day and I simply have the TV/radio on to reduce a) what i hear and b) what they hear. I have no real probs with being attached to next door and we'll probably end up in a semi-detached this time around, although we'll be looking for something older that has more substantial walls.

debrag

I can't stand snoring or kids at all.

We live on a high st and the noise generally doesn't bother us.

Agree on wax ear plugs by the way.

ruggedtoast

damtheman wrote: »

Good morning everyone

Not what I wanted to have to post on a lovely (as good as it gets with all the rain right now) morning where I am, but something ever so pressing
has driven me to post to garner opinion (good or bad).

In the past 5 years I have moved house roughly 7 times, all due to various reasons which I shall explain:

Property No.1 my first place since my parents, 1 bed cluster. The couple next door were shouting at the top of their lungs both early morning and
late night, being nieve young me I did not do anything to combat this. I promptly requested that the landlord release me after 4 months of
suffering, which they kindly did.

Property No.2 2 bed terrace, again I had neighbour issues where they had floorboards and I didn't and the constant noise drove me insane, unfortunately it was also in the immediate area of the school that I worked and I was concerned of the behaviour of the students. Again, I didn't do anything other than move again because I knew the situation wouldn't improve even with interference. ("Yes hello Mr Next Door Landlord, can you put carpets down because your high heeled tenants are bothering me day and night?")

Property No.3 a 2 bed semi-detached house, perfect, absolutely perfect. 1 neighbour and she was lovely, wonderful setup and brilliant quiet village. Unfortuantely after only 6 months, the landlord wanted to sell up and asked me to move. Checking back, they never did sell - which is a shame.

Property No.4 a 1 bed flat, top of the building so no one above me but one tenant below me, and he played endless music at various annoying moments in the day, another flat a staircase away played loud music on Christmas Day - an OK day ruined. Confronting the tenant and landlord about what to do resulted in being told that it isnt as loud as I've made it out to be - but the point was, it was disturbing me!! Also had issues with mould that the landlord didn't seem to understand how to resolve, even after my suggestions. This property I had been living longest so far but I wanted to move to get away from neighbours so confined.

Property No.5 stupidly I had chosen another 1 bed cluster home, this one in (what the agent called) "clipper style" where the bedroom is on a balcony but everything else is open planned. Worse idea ever, sound and music from my poor-English Polish neighbours caused endless stress, plus banging around on fairly thick walls was disturbing - always at the wrong time! I'm a normal 9-5 working person, I expect to be able to watch television in the evening without interuptions (Who doesn't nowadays?) but the neighbours would also be doing something that involved hitting against the wall. I was only there for 6 months, now on anti-depressants and worrying that I will ever find a good place to live.

Property No.6 a 1 bed almost-semi-detached property, fairly new build which I thought was going to be the answer to my praires. Close to work (which means I could walk and not drive) and on a supposedly quiet street. How wrong was I! The FIRST night I was there, I could hear the neighbours coughing and talking! Not ever had I experienced the volume from my neighbours being so intrusive into my own living room. The plasterboard was a give away - how did I not realise when I looked at the property the first time?? By this time I had been reading up on everything to do with neighbour nuisance and what to do and not to do in situations like this. I approached the neighbours about it with little effect, nothing changed, but what can they do if they are being as normal as I was? Then I raised my concerns with the agent and landlord, implying that the wall was too thin, no insulation etc because I could hear SNEEZING and COUGHING and TALKING (one night the neighbours had one drunken night and fight between friends I called the police, and I heard every word!) but the landlord was not interested. He simply told me I was "ranting" and did not take up my offer of coming in to see what I meant by the amount of noise heard. Again, only there 6 months because the intereference into my boring and quiet home life was too much.

Property No.7 a 2 bed semi-detached cottage in a quiet village. More or less perfect. Yes the landlord lived next door (in the other side attached) but he was a loner and had only his dog for company. I thought no problems would arise, unfortunately again I was wrong, so wrong. His dog would bark constantly, at its own shadow, at the wind. Sheesh. Many hours I have spent hearing that dog bark constantly and he did nothing about it, even after I approached him. His loner-ness meant that he was mostly home or his shop and of course he brought his work home, so late evening (10-11pm) I was hearing him moving his "antiques" around - how frustrating. It wasn't long until that the council visited because this was the first time the property was rented and the landlord had done any adaptations prior to tenants. The council report brought up a list of changes that needed to be made before it was tenant inhabitable. Only there 18 months so sadly this meant I was asked to leave for the work to be carried out, so it was time to find someplace else...

Property No.8 a 2 bed terrace house, you'd think I would learn my lesson from before? Well I didn't and I am yet again in ANOTHER property where I hear the neighbours KNOCK and BANG and CRASH against the inner wall. One of the neighbours is retired, so he'll be in all bloody day, so no chance of a sleep in at the weekend without ear plugs - but why should I do that?? It appears the neighbours are just doing normal day things against the wall and I hear every knock of it, but what can I do?

Of course I believe I do not believe I deserve this stress. I am not hyper sensitive to noise, you should come wrong and hear it for yourself! But I really am at the end of my already stretched tether. I intend to talk to the agent to ask to allow me to leave, after 1 week (today is day 6) of suffering this noise. I am not prepared to put up with it, I am house proud, I've looked after every place that I have lived, but each and every time its a matter of battling emotion and intrusive noise. Noise has ruined my life. I don't like having to move every 6 months, its embarrassing!

What are the chances of having the agent release from this "contract"? Will anyone ever understand that I cannot take this? I'd much rather be in a property that was either semi-detached and with little likelyhood of being sold or falling down, or I'd like to be in someplace in the middle of nowhere, I'm not millionaire, so thats not going to happen.

Or should I just shut up and quit complaining? I realise there will be some posts telling me to shut up and put up with it, or some tell me I'm ranting but shirley there is someone out there that agrees with me entirely? Shirley there must be a way out of it?

Your advice is always greatly appreciated, oh great MSE community.

dtm

I think you have to accept sometimes necessity dictates you have to live near other people, and that other people make noise.

damtheman

In the end I managed to convince the agent not to charge me the £250 they were expecting for the new tenant's contract but it also included a fee about a ridiculous accusation about a fridge freezer that I am entirely not responsible for.

I had concluded that they owed me money but the slate has been wiped clean.

Fortunately now I am in a property that is detached from anyone else, finally and feeling much better because of it.

Just a shame the rent is making the budget very tight, but ah well.

Thanks for everyone's responses.

cowsnhope

Glad you found somewhere

HB58

I wish you every happiness in your new home