Noisy people in flat above me.

kashmirigirl

I live in a ground floor flat, the people above me have a 3 yr old child. The flats haven't got very good sound proofing. In short I understand that living in a ground floor flat I'm going to hear the people above, which is fine, I accept that but for sometime now the people above have basically been taking the !!!! by banging about and letting the child run around until about 10 at night.

In one of our earlier chats I asked her if she could hear my telly during that conversation I mentioned that I could hear her quite a bit etc, especially the child, she said that she understood and that the child was very heavy on her feet.

For about 2 weeks the noise was unbearable so I had a little word with her and asked if she could keep the noise down a bit as I found that I wasn't getting any peaceful evenings after work. Her reply was I pay the rent so I will make as much noise as I want. I was quite shocked by her reply so just said ok that's fine, I don't want to fall out, we will leave it at that - you know how I feel.

So now which way do I turn when she makes noise, don't feel as though I can say anything more to her as I feel her reply will be the same - do I contact the landlady??

All I want is for her to give me some kind of consideration. I know you can't tie the child to a chair but I do feel a child running around the flat for a couple of hours is a bit much. I'm out 5 days a week 9 until 6 so she has plenty of time to run around then. The child goes to bed about 15 to 20 mins before I turn in so I don't get much quite time.

Please don't say move as this is not an option.

Thanks for reading.

GwylimT

Yes living in a flat you do have to accept there might be noise, just as you would in a semi or a terraced house. We live in a flat and we were very careful before we moved here, we weren't willing to live somewhere if noise was going to be a regular problem, we asked a few of the residents about noise.

There could be a clause in the tenancy, but really I'm not sure what is enforceable, hopefully someone with better knowledge will be along soon.

kashmirigirl

Thanks for your reply.

When we moved here, there was a very nice quiet man living above, then he left and noisy people moved in.

I will check out my tenancy agreement.

Guest101

1 it's a downside of living in a flat, I'd suggest going for a house next time
2 what's ur tenancy got to do with them?
3 whilst some noise offences could be enforced this is not one of them
4 why is moving not an option?

thesaint

kashmirigirl wrote: »

Please don't say move as this is not an option.
.

Court ordered?

cathybird

I used to live in a flat with poor soundproofing and it drove me absolutely mad, so you have all my sympathy. It might be worth putting in a call to your council and seeing if their noise nuisance staff wouldn't come round to your flat to assess how unacceptable the noise level is - I spoke to the council at the time and my understanding is that it's not so much the nature of the noise as how intrusive it is, and loud voices/footsteps are in any case something that they would deal with a lot, since those are common problems in flats in London.

You could try the landlady too - if she was willing to put in a phone call to your neighbour, the combined pressure from both of you might lead your neighbour to do something about it. It's worth a try.

monty-doggy

Perhaps she could have carpets fitted to absorb some of the noise?

If she isn't willing to talk I'd want to make a racket when the kid is finally in bed, then when she complains, try to find a mutual solution?

Guest101

cathybird wrote: »

I used to live in a flat with poor soundproofing and it drove me absolutely mad, so you have all my sympathy. It might be worth putting in a call to your council and seeing if their noise nuisance staff wouldn't come round to your flat to assess how unacceptable the noise level is - I spoke to the council at the time and my understanding is that it's not so much the nature of the noise as how intrusive it is, and loud voices/footsteps are in any case something that they would deal with a lot, since those are common problems in flats in London.

You could try the landlady too - if she was willing to put in a phone call to your neighbour, the combined pressure from both of you might lead your neighbour to do something about it. It's worth a try.

What is the ops land lady got to do with the other person?

ruggedtoast

kashmirigirl wrote: »

I live in a ground floor flat, the people above me have a 3 yr old child. The flats haven't got very good sound proofing. In short I understand that living in a ground floor flat I'm going to hear the people above, which is fine, I accept that but for sometime now the people above have basically been taking the !!!! by banging about and letting the child run around until about 10 at night.

In one of our earlier chats I asked her if she could hear my telly during that conversation I mentioned that I could hear her quite a bit etc, especially the child, she said that she understood and that the child was very heavy on her feet.

For about 2 weeks the noise was unbearable so I had a little word with her and asked if she could keep the noise down a bit as I found that I wasn't getting any peaceful evenings after work. Her reply was I pay the rent so I will make as much noise as I want. I was quite shocked by her reply so just said ok that's fine, I don't want to fall out, we will leave it at that - you know how I feel.

So now which way do I turn when she makes noise, don't feel as though I can say anything more to her as I feel her reply will be the same - do I contact the landlady??

All I want is for her to give me some kind of consideration. I know you can't tie the child to a chair but I do feel a child running around the flat for a couple of hours is a bit much. I'm out 5 days a week 9 until 6 so she has plenty of time to run around then. The child goes to bed about 15 to 20 mins before I turn in so I don't get much quite time.

Please don't say move as this is not an option.

Thanks for reading.

I'm not sure what you want to hear. Your ceiling is their floor, you have asked them not to allow their child to use their floor in the evening and they have, understandably, told you to sling your hook.

10pm is too late for a 3 year old to go to bed imo, but there is no bedtime police you can summon who will go round and make the parents put her to bed at 6.

Short of swapping flats with them you will need to look at moving. If you won't move then I would imagine that as the kid gets older and starts schools / playgroups they will need to put her to bed earlier.

notanewuser

ruggedtoast wrote: »

I'm not sure what you want to hear. Your ceiling is their floor, you have asked them not to allow their child to use their floor in the evening and they have, understandably, told you to sling your hook.

10pm is too late for a 3 year old to go to bed imo, but there is no bedtime police you can summon who will go round and make the parents put her to bed at 6.

Short of swapping flats with them you will need to look at moving. If you won't move then I would imagine that as the kid gets older and starts schools / playgroups they will need to put her to bed earlier.

^^^^^ this. DD is 3 and if it weren't for playgroup 4 mornings a week her bedtime would probably be around 10pm. As an owl she naturally gets a second wind at about 7pm and can easily run around for another 2 hours. Sadly there aren't many places you can take a child at that time because the "conventional" bedtime is 7pm.

We don't live in a flat, but IMO you're asking a bit much OP.

EmmaHerts

Make a louder noise, and when she complains- remind her what she said to you.