Noisy kids upstairs, should the previous owner disclose this when selling? Help pleas

Kayalana99

I still stand by what I said....:o

harrup

jingledoghere wrote: »

Can this be a dispute between neighbours? The seller did not disclose this in the seller's form. I know nothing about the noise from upstairs. So now what should I do?

No. Neighbours having a chat/discussion/disagreement between them does NOT constitute a "dispute" in legal terms.

Nor would any vendor in their right mind volunteer the info that upstairs is inhabited by young, energetic kids. Would you?

As to what you should do:

invest in state of the art sound proofing
Or
Sell the flat and move on.

Those are the ONLY options. There is no way that a parent, or council, or land lord, or ANYONE could or would enforce that young children are to tiptoe in their own home or only talking sotto-voce. Kids are noisy - it is what it is. Getting frustrated by it is perfectly understandible, but it is as pointless as getting angry about rain when you wanted it sunny.

wannahouse

Mojisola wrote: »

If the parents are reasonable people, try inviting them down to hear for themselves what it's like in your flat. They may be able to mitigate the noise to some extent by making sure the children don't wear outside shoes indoors or they could put down rugs in some areas (like above your work station) or just encourage the children to take a break from running around every so often during the day.

do you have children???
i ask because of your quote "or just encourage the children to take a break from running around every so often during the day." LOL!!

believe me, as parents sometimes you want the constant noise to STOP!!
it drives me nuts sometimes..squabbling, repetitive banging of toys, laughter, screaming, etc...
we have really good, well behaved kids, but even the sound of mine drives me nuts at times, particulary in an enclosed space like the car...but you can't just make children sit still unless you sit them in front of the television all day, and that is extremely awful parenting, just to get some quiet, and damaging to the kids...
when we lived in a flat in london, the noise from other adults partying etc all the time and music just drove me to distraction..my blood pressure still rises if i hear muffled music coming from somewhere, but no we are fortunate enough to live in a large house and acres, with nothing but the countryside noises, as i just can't do cities anymore...but i couldn't make everyone elses behaviour change to suit me..and believe me -i tried...
even people breaking the rules with parties and loud music at all hours..no one ever did anything about it.
i imagine most parents living in a FLAT with kids, are only doing so as they can afford nothing else,so to make them anxious about the normal noise levels a child makes and encouraging the OP to politely hassle them constantly in the hopes they will move is really awful advice..
its stressful enough being a parent with kids in a flat as it is, worrying about every bang, and a baby crying...
having no garden for the kids to ply in etc also makes it difficult, but its not always easy to get out during the day with kids either... we lived in our flat with children for a two year period,there were no parks anywhere near the rea, and no where really, barr dirty streets to walk in...
if we wanted to go to a large park that was a few miles away, we would have to drive for about 40 mins and then pay for parking, which was expensive, and it adds up day by day! the traffic was so awful even to go to friends houses 10 miles away was a one hours exercise each way in the car so didn't often happen, and then when we got there, it was max 2 hour parking in the area, so not even worth al the trouble to get out for that short time...
they may have a baby that needs sleeps during the day etc...it is reasonable to expect a mother with children may be in alot during the day, and its reasonable that they would exect that most flats would be vacant during the day while the occupants are in work..
by the time most occupants are home, the kids are being put to bed (10pm,for a bed time for kids though sounds a little undisciplined!) so normally you wouldn't expect to have these clashes btwn neighbours.
unfortunately thats just part of life, and i think if it doesn't work for you, you might want to look at moving or renting the flat out, which is what we did...
they may move out and you get some loud, partying adults in?
imo, living in flats is the pits, and i will never do it again, as i have no tolerance for others noise that is outside the `'rules`'....
i could hear a baby crying, and it not bother me, but to have inconsiderate neighbours shouting and partying at all hours made me want to have a heart attack!

i do feel sorry for the OP....
everyone just wants a quiet place to get away from it all, and its stressful when you are bothered by something, even if the others are technically `'doing anything wrong`'.

Fire_Fox

I'm fascinated how many people think children's noise is acceptable regardless of what type, wonder how many would be saying the same if it was dogs running around and barking.

I don't recall being allowed to run and jump indoors when I was a child, safety of ourselves and household belongings primarily. We played relatively calmly indoors or went outside.

jingledoghere

Hello all, thanks a lot for your guys reply :beer:

An update here, I just talked to the father upstairs. Well, it will not solve my problem here unfortunately. Firstly, he is not happy that I went up to make complain to the kids so soon again although I explained calmly and friendly that I just want to find solution. He said they've tried their best to control the kids and they don't think the noise is too bad considering the kids mainly make noise during daytime which should not bother others too much (of course except me here). I asked about their floor. He showed me that the 2 bedrooms are carpeted but the hallway and living room are with laminate. They do put rugs on the floor. He insist these are all they can do:(

Now I have to find my own solution. If I sell this flat, do i have to mention the upstairs noise? I complained twice to them and to their landlord once?

olly300

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I'm fascinated how many people think children's noise is acceptable regardless of what type, wonder how many would be saying the same if it was dogs running around and barking.

That is the legal position.

I've had issues with noise neighbours in the past, know an EHO and have spoken recently to my management company about anti-social behaviour.

Dogs barking, running around or sh*tting everywhere is different as dogs are considered to be controllable animals. Children aren't animals.

If you complained about your neighbour's cat causing a nuisance it would be ignored. Simply because cats aren't controllable animals.

olly300

jingledoghere wrote: »

Now I have to find my own solution. If I sell this flat, do i have to mention the upstairs noise? I complained twice to them and to their landlord once?

Nope you don't have to declare it as it's not a formal dispute.

If you complained to the local EHO or freeholder then you would have to declare it.

Mojisola

wannahouse wrote: »

do you have children???
i ask because of your quote "or just encourage the children to take a break from running around every so often during the day." LOL!!

believe me, as parents sometimes you want the constant noise to STOP!!...but you can't just make children sit still unless you sit them in front of the television all day, and that is extremely awful parenting, just to get some quiet, and damaging to the kids...

I'm not sure how you got from children "taking a break" to "sitting them in front of the TV all day".

Children can't always run about the place at will - they certainly wouldn't be allowed to at school. I never had any issue with getting our children to settle down at points during the day with quiet activities - reading, crafts, cooking, some TV, and so on.

Fire_Fox

olly300 wrote: »

That is the legal position.

I've had issues with noise neighbours in the past, know an EHO and have spoken recently to my management company about anti-social behaviour.

Dogs barking, running around or sh*tting everywhere is different as dogs are considered to be controllable animals. Children aren't animals.

If you complained about your neighbour's cat causing a nuisance it would be ignored. Simply because cats aren't controllable animals.

As I clearly stated, I am fascinated by how many people think it is acceptable. I am capable of reading the posts on the legal position and distinguishing between that and personal opinions without you misinterpreting what I posted, thank you very much.

jingledoghere

olly300 wrote: »

Nope you don't have to declare it as it's not a formal dispute.

If you complained to the local EHO or freeholder then you would have to declare it.

Do you mean the management company? I did call them in order to reach their landlord. The lady asked the reason why I need talk to the landlord. I said it's some kind of noise issues but I did not give more details. So she report this noise issue to landlord and let him call me back. Well well, does this mean my complain was logged as a dispute anyway?