Very noisy neighbours

jude47

Hi OP


I know you have reported the noise nuisance to Environmental Health, and sorry if this has already been suggested, but as the neighbour is a Council tenant, have you contacted the Council's Housing Department about this problem? Anti-social behaviour such as noise nuisance contravenes the tenancy agreement and the Council will have a specialist team who deal with this kind of issue.


Env Health may not have passed the report on, and from personal experience I can say that the Anti-Social Behaviour Team in my area were terrific when I had the neighbour from hell living above me. Yes, I had to keep diaries etc, but it was worth it in the end as the evidence mounted up.


Oh, and one thing they did advise was NOT to retaliate in kind, so as not to be the one on the receiving end of a complaint, or for the situation to escalate - although believe me, I really understand the temptation of the air-horn!


Hope this helps

Egypt191

jude47 wrote: »

Hi OP


I know you have reported the noise nuisance to Environmental Health, and sorry if this has already been suggested, but as the neighbour is a Council tenant, have you contacted the Council's Housing Department about this problem? Anti-social behaviour such as noise nuisance contravenes the tenancy agreement and the Council will have a specialist team who deal with this kind of issue.


Env Health may not have passed the report on, and from personal experience I can say that the Anti-Social Behaviour Team in my area were terrific when I had the neighbour from hell living above me. Yes, I had to keep diaries etc, but it was worth it in the end as the evidence mounted up.


Oh, and one thing they did advise was NOT to retaliate in kind, so as not to be the one on the receiving end of a complaint, or for the situation to escalate - although believe me, I really understand the temptation of the air-horn!


Hope this helps

Funnily enough somebody mentioned this to me today, I didn't even think of going to the council so I think that'll be my next port of call.

I do agree with not retaliating though, but it's soooo tempting.

Luckily enough, or not, depending on which way you look at it, I have been keeping logs of the incidents, so shall now see how it goes.

WelshKitty

I have awful neighbours next door She is a right chav too ! She has 3 kids living with her and 1 elsewhere who visits her in the summer hols and is a nightmare . The worst time was the music until 5am which would stop for an hour and start again at 6am , luckily the neighbour on the other side joined forces and we complained to the council it took a while and a lot of letters and visits but the music stopped !
However this woman has a voice that can be heard miles away and every day and night we hear her scream at her children , mainly the older one who is about 6 and the language she uses is shocking , we even heard her once say to the child that she hated her and wished she was dead She seems to favour her youngest kids who are twins and if they misbehave blames the other child .
From what I can gather social services have been involved but they removed one child and left the others there , we have called police at certain times as visitors who she has thrown out has threatened the break anyone property unless she lets them in , normally when they spot police they used to run and then she refused to open door which meant police just left
I was given this link by a friend who said it for the stage when the council clearly are not doing enough .
http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/fact-sheets/complaints-about-anti-social-behaviour/

ska_lover

OP, I think that you may be in a position where the more you complain to them, the louder they will get. I am not saying this is right, but some people are just like that . Putting your speakers up against the wall is a rather silly move IMO - as they will know what you are doing....and no, it won't stop them, it will have the opposite effect. You cannot expect a sensible answer to your requests for quiet, if you are going to play tit for tat with them. IMO you are as much at fault as them.

If you have lived next door to them for ten years, but suddenly the noise has got worse over the last two years, what has changed? Why have relations soured?

If you complain to the council, your neighbour is going to 100% know it is you that has done that - as you have complained to her previously - so be prepared for trouble on your doorstep - and they will know it is you.You could completely blow any chance of having good relations again, so i would say this is last resort to be honest. I doubt that the local authorities noise abatement team would do much for people playing during the day time unless it is completely excessive, i mean ''pictures falling from your walls'' kind of loud.

Neighbour disputes are a nightmare, but from what OP is saying, the offending neighbour is playing music during the daytime on a weekend. It seems that the problem that the music is not to the OPs taste being as much a problem as the volume. It is not like it is blaring music at 3am when you have got to be up for work. Dogs will bark, that is life I am afraid - there is not really a lot can be done about that.

OP I would suggest that you back off a bit, live your own life and stop focusing on what other people are doing / listening to in their own homes - or it will drive you mad - and your neighbours.

I think you and your neighbour need to find a way to move forward. You do not have to like them or their music tastes, but having neighbours that you can live around is essential and this is well on the way to becoming a real problem.

If you are civil to them - you may be suprised by your attitude being reflected back to you

pimento

The best time to deploy the air horn isn't while the music is on, it will be when she's asleep. This might be during the day if she is awake all night.

Do you know her phone number? Perhaps you could call her to discuss her music when she's asleep. Two or three times a day?

fivetide

pimento wrote: »

The best time to deploy the air horn isn't while the music is on, it will be when she's asleep. This might be during the day if she is awake all night.

Do you know her phone number? Perhaps you could call her to discuss her music when she's asleep. Two or three times a day?

From what the OP has said it isn't an issue with music all night it is an issue with Lionel Richtea during the day, albeit 8:30am on a weekend.

As the OP owns the house it is a bit of a bind as it might prove more difficult to get something done if the music is loud but not at unsociable hours and of course, if they ever want to sell, they'll need to declare a dispute.

Certianly speak to other neighbours though. See if you can band together and get something sorted through the council.

The tit for tat stuff isn't likely to help too much, although I did once have success with Samuel L. Jackson's Ezkiel speech from Pulp Fiction. If you get a copy, the gunfire and scream at the end of it is included. Excellent for getting people to shut up!

poorlittlefish

To evict someone from social housing takes a lot of work and effort, not least from yourself because the council/housing association will need lots of evidence if they are to take the matter to court. Assuming the neighbour's Housing Officer hasn't already warned them that their tenancy is at risk if they breach its conditions then encouraging other neighbours to raise complaints and keep records will definitely help.

I had one lot of nightmare neighbours after the other (private rentals by chavvy kids with kids) and ended up moving, so you have my full sympathies. You can never rest easy, always wondering when the next lot of racket will be; an awful situation that is highly stressful.

Egypt191

poorlittlefish wrote: »

To evict someone from social housing takes a lot of work and effort, not least from yourself because the council/housing association will need lots of evidence if they are to take the matter to court. Assuming the neighbour's Housing Officer hasn't already warned them that their tenancy is at risk if they breach its conditions then encouraging other neighbours to raise complaints and keep records will definitely help.

I've got a fair bit of evidence, going back over the past year, I don't know if anybody's complained before so I don't imagine their Housing Officer has even been involved yet.

ska_lover wrote: »

OP, I think that you may be in a position where the more you complain to them, the louder they will get. I am not saying this is right, but some people are just like that . Putting your speakers up against the wall is a rather silly move IMO - as they will know what you are doing....and no, it won't stop them, it will have the opposite effect. You cannot expect a sensible answer to your requests for quiet, if you are going to play tit for tat with them. IMO you are as much at fault as them.


If you have lived next door to them for ten years, but suddenly the noise has got worse over the last two years, what has changed? Why have relations soured?

If you complain to the council, your neighbour is going to 100% know it is you that has done that - as you have complained to her previously - so be prepared for trouble on your doorstep - and they will know it is you.You could completely blow any chance of having good relations again, so i would say this is last resort to be honest. I doubt that the local authorities noise abatement team would do much for people playing during the day time unless it is completely excessive, i mean ''pictures falling from your walls'' kind of loud.

Neighbour disputes are a nightmare, but from what OP is saying, the offending neighbour is playing music during the daytime on a weekend. It seems that the problem that the music is not to the OPs taste being as much a problem as the volume. It is not like it is blaring music at 3am when you have got to be up for work. Dogs will bark, that is life I am afraid - there is not really a lot can be done about that.

OP I would suggest that you back off a bit, live your own life and stop focusing on what other people are doing / listening to in their own homes - or it will drive you mad - and your neighbours.

I think you and your neighbour need to find a way to move forward. You do not have to like them or their music tastes, but having neighbours that you can live around is essential and this is well on the way to becoming a real problem.

If you are civil to them - you may be suprised by your attitude being reflected back to you

First of all, I don't disagree that retaliation is not the way forward, however, I did it the once as no matter what I said or did had effect.


Second, the music is so loud that I can hear the words etc through the walls, we have to turn up our T.V. in order to hear it( which is in the furthest room away from the joining wall.)


Thirdly, I don't concentrate on the problem, but its been going on for a while now and is becoming unbearable, to give slightly more background I have two autistic children who struggle immensely when the music is on (one hides under his duvet, the other screams and throws things).


What has changed? she split up from her husband and it's been since he has gone.


Lastly, I have never been anything but civil, and have explained about the kids suffering, but it doesn't stop.

fivetide wrote: »

As the OP owns the house it is a bit of a bind as it might prove more difficult to get something done if the music is loud but not at unsociable hours and of course, if they ever want to sell, they'll need to declare a dispute.

Certianly speak to other neighbours though. See if you can band together and get something sorted through the council

The fact that a dispute would show up if I sold my house is what concerns me.


The only problem about speaking to other neighbours is some of them don't get on well with her at all, to the point that there have been major problems here, I wouldn't want to cause more trouble if I can sort it myself.

ska_lover

What you are saying OP does shed new light on it. If she doesnt care if she is causing upset to autistic children, then I would report her. If you have tried all other tacts, being civil etc, then the only route forward is to report her.

Don't feel guilty about it either - as she doesnt give a toss that your kids are upset.