Noisy Neighbours – 24/7 and getting no help.

waddie_2

Long story, short... the house next door has been converted to lots of rented rooms. Many have moved in and they love their rap bass music. Since Christmas/Boxing Day 2013 (for nearly 3 months solid now) they play music 24/7 it’s on 99% of the time – REALLY! That much. When you wake up - it’s on, it’s on all day and when you go to sleep, it’s still going (it’s always hard to get to sleep and can take hours). You don’t usually hear the lyrics or the tune but the bass is always there.

They have had loud parties (in late October 2013) stopped, but this is what’s been going on for 3 months solid and it vibrates into my ears and all rooms in my terraced house (built in the 1930s), and leaves me with a permanent headache or drumming or both in the head and ears.

I am house bound and disabled. If only they reduce the sound a little, it would make all the difference, all other noise, from overhead aircraft, people outside, cars going past, Bird twittering, etc., are no problem but this constant bass is really bad and exhausting.

1) I have spoken to some them several times, they have lied and one of them put up their volume – TWICE - when I asked them to turn it down. So this didn’t work.
2) I called the Property Services that manage the house, who tried to have a word but then said they needed a report from the Noise Abatement service so they could Serve Notice.
3) I have called out Noise Abatement so many times and they have come round and though they can hear it, have said it is too low and they will not even knock on the neighbour’s door.
4) I called the council who just sent out the Noise Abatement service and they must have talked it over and the last email I received from them was, even vibrational noise and even 24/7 can be done if that’s what the neighbours want to do.
5) The Local MP won’t touch it.

Shelter were helpful and put me onto an Adovacy group (AgeUK) which was hopeful but said Noise Abatement HAD to make a report but Noise Abatement have refused.

-) Moving is not an option and I am disabled and housebound as I have said before.
-) I have even been to the doctor to have my ears checked and cleaned. It may be even worse now, it really is base sounds 24/7 - when it does go off in those rare times, for a short while, you can hear the silence.
-) Ear plugs only block out part of the sound but not the vibration.
-) It penetrates even when you watch TV, listen to music and even in the shower, imagine then trying to get to sleep with it going.
-) This has all taken time and why 3 months have passed.

Anyone have any ideas what else I can try?

Thanks for reading.

EmmaHerts

Why can't you move?

Lots of help here http://www.noisyneighbours.net/

Pixie5740

I really do feel for you. I know what the hell of living next to noisy neighbours is but thankfully my council were a lot more helpful than yours seem to be.

Where in the UK are you as Scottish landlords have a responsibility for nuisance tenants that landlords in England & Wales sadly don't.

If the house has been recently converted into lots of rented rooms there is a possibility that you are now living next to a HMO. It might be worth finding out if it is a HMO and if so is it licensed properly. It's another avenue to go down if you're not getting anywhere with the council on the noise front although I'd still keep on at them about that.

Have you tried calling the police or do they just direct you to the noise abatement team?

McBozo

who are noise abatement?

if this is a constant noise and its affecting you then the council _have_ to act.

have you a diary?

Do a search on who owns the property at the land registry website and contact them also.

Also contact the council to ensure the building is legal and has the right permits/permission etc to have been converted into having lots of people stay in it.

you may also want to consider soundproofing, pricey but helps.

waddie_2

# 2 EmmaHerts - It my house, I'm disabled and part owner of the property (the other person does not live here) and further complications. I shouldn't have to move if they did a simple thing of not having music all night at least!

Your link is useful (thanks) so I shall look at that in more detail.

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Pixie5740 Its in London, a few streets away two of the roads have been converted in to many apartments - the whole two streets practically, and more to come. The Property Services will not give me the landlords details as (data protection). I feel the council have washed their hands of it as they are following the letter of the law and the Noise Abatement, who have said many things, from they won't tackle low noise as it gets ripped to shreds in court to wishing me luck and nothing else!

Soundproofing would not work here really, and already looking into HMOs but it may not be covered.

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McBozo Noise abatement - in London at least are council run teams that deal with nuisance noise (depending on the council)

I am keeping a detailed log but its exhausting writing and soing all these things when just ONE official person speaking to them may solve the issue BUT 3 months on, no one is willing to do this and they are ignoring me. I will try and find out who owns it but its recent

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Thanks for your replies so far

[Deleted User]

EmmaHerts wrote: »

Why can't you move?

Who would buy a house if every time they came to view it there was noise?

ruperts

I feel your pain. For sleeping, try getting some good noise cancelling headphones and playing something like this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcJ-o_fh1B4


You will likely need something more bass heavy than that though to drown out the music. I actually made my own version with music production software, it's a deep solid bass and some white noise on top. Essentially the principle is to replace all other noise with one unbroken sound, which makes falling asleep a fair bit easier.

michelle1506

Hello,

You could try spending at least £100 on a 'white noise machine'. For loud disturbances, there is a very good brand on the market beginning with an 'M' which allows you to play a 'rain' sound very loud.

I got mine off a UK website, it's fab, and has really helped with my noisy neighbours upstairs. I only bought it about a month ago, and it cost me £120.

A lot of money to spend, but for me it has helped considerably..

michelle1506

Hello,

I would just like to share that today, I managed to buy a pair of 'industrial' type ear muffs from a budget store beginning with 'L'. They only cost £3.99, and are absolutely great at blocking out noise. The only problem is that they would be hard to sleep in, unless it involved sleeping in an upright position..

Might be another option for the poor op. There are also at least a couple of great UK based websites on 'noisy neighbours', which might prove both helpful and supportive..

TBagpuss

Don't spend £100 on a white noise machine. First, try out a free white noise generator - (I use an app called 'simply noise') to see whether it is at all helpful for you. If it is, then upgrading to a proper machine may be worth it.

Getting your Doctor to write a letter detailing the problems this is causing for your health may be useful.

When you talk about Noise Abatement, are you talking about your council's Environmental Health department? If not, contact them.

Do you know the neighbours on the other side of the property? It may be worth contacting them to see whether they have had any problems, and whether they have made any complaints? The council may be more willing to take action if they get simialar complaints from more than one person.