Advice about solving noise urgently needed

Gordon_Hose

I hope you get what you need

MJK4711

Thanks Gordon Hose

Furts

MJK4711 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys.

I haven't witnessed the children jumping off the furniture. It was their father that told me this was what they were doing when we were speaking about the noise.

I expected noise when I moved in and I hear it daily. Screaming, shouting, doors slamming etc etc. All of this I can tolerate. It's just the running and jumping (especially) that is unbearable.

They are out till all hours some nights (till 1am weekends, 10.30 midweek) so you can imagine the noise I hear when they come in. Having said that at least I haven't had to put up with it whilst they're out.

You've all given me some good advice and I thank you for that. I need to get back on the phone and do some more letter writing. It's just that after a year of this I feel absolutely exhausted from it all.

Take heart, for if your Housing Association is in the same vain as the one in my area then you will get support. This Association rules with a rod of iron. As an example I am aware of a family moving into a house in July. Within two weeks police and Housing were involved with written warnings and the prospect of Court. ASBO equivalents and injunctions were rapidly issued, so neighbours had a peaceful summer holiday. There has since been a Court case and further Injunctions on both parents, the children and orders on the dog. There will be a final Court case in two weeks. If the family loose this they will be kicked out. The process will have taken under five months, but it could have been much quicker had the summer holidays not been granted as a breather space.

The key thing here is the family appear fundamentally OK, and the children are behaving in a manner acceptable on the streets they moved from.

Times have changed from a few years ago when the stereotypical tenant could behave as they wished. Indeed, to achieve this, one must now be an owner occupier.

zaax

I feel sorry for you, I had a same problem but next door neighbour decider it was OK to play an electric guitar at 4am in the morning, the local council was useless. After a while I managed to scrap enough together to get a mortgage and though my new place which nearly in the country side does suffer from road noise, it brilliant.
Could you do a swap with someone else in another building maybe in another part of the country?
How about a stair lift so you can swap with up-stairs?

MJK4711

I heavily rely on family to help me with my illness so moving away is not really an option. Also I have spent all my savings on this flat, flooring/the garden etc. A first floor flat is not an option either as it would mean I have to get rid of my dog. He is great company for me what with me staying in virtually all the time. I need direct access to a garden for him as I can't walk him and to be honest I love my garden in the summer. At least it means I can sit outside.

The people above me should have a house really or a ground floor flat themselves. I appreciate their children are young but then I think we are all entitled to some peace and quiet in our own homes. Especially when it is to the level that you are being woken up/kept awake on a regular basis.

I have tried swapping rooms in the evening so I am not directly sitting underneath where they are, but their kids literally run all over their flat so there's not really an escape.

I have looked online and there are loads of people in my position. It is a real problem with people suffering with noise emanating from children. Because it's children the Council and Environmental Health won't help. If it was music/DIY/dogs etc they would step in. Surely it's the level of noise that matters and not the source?

Norman_Castle

Surely it's the level of noise that matters and not the source?

How avoidable the noise is should be taken into consideration. The landlord and parents dismissing your complaints as the noise is made by children is not fair on you. It is not difficult to stop children behaving in this way. Its the job of the parents to tell them. If they are not doing this the Housing Association should consider them antisocial but rarely do.

I've lived in the same flat for many years and had a variety of neighbors. By far the biggest difference in noise transfer has been the tenants behavior. The phrase" It gets on your nerves" literally sums up constant, loud, irregular bangs.

In mediation the parents should have agreed to stop the children jumping of the furniture. Some Housing Association employees are excellent. Some are clueless. If you feel they are not doing enough make a formal complaint and keep complaining.

You say you are very considerate. Try stopping being considerate. Drown out their noise. Try wearing earplugs, and turning the volume up, while watching the tv at night. They might then start to understand what life with a noisy neighbor is like.

Gordon_Hose

If the council have nowhere to put them, then what is the alternative? You're not prepared to move, they aren't prepared to move - Mexican stand off!

You can't force the council to put them in a house, especially if there are no houses available.

Children make noise, you can't expect them to be forced to sit still and make no noise. During the day you'll be hard pushed to convenience anyone that children making noise whilst playing is a nuisance. Yes, after 11pm and before 7am you'll have a case, but you're going to need to keep a diary and complain to environmental health. Then that leaves you with the neighbours knowing exactly who "grassed them up" and, bingo, you're left feeling even more uncomfortable when they throw you dirty looks in the street!

Norman_Castle

Children make noise, you can't expect them to be forced to sit still and make no noise.

They don't need to sit still and be silent. They just need to moderate their noisy behavior. I expect any behavior which bothers parents is stopped very quickly. The children aren't the problem. Its the parents indifference to the neighbors welfare which allows the problem to continue.

MJK4711

All I have ever asked is if they could try and control the running and jumping. I certainly would if I thought my children were disturbing my neighbours as much.

I can hear them all in the same room and the running and jumping goes on for hours at a time. They live in a flat with someone underneath them (not a gymnasium) and I think they should try and be a bit more considerate.

As a mother and former childminder I don't think the stance of "They're kids so they can make as much noise as they like" cuts it. The parents should be able to exercise a bit of control. I am amazed that one of the kids hasn't been carted off in an ambulance. I have heard them burst out crying on numerous occasions after a loud "bang" so they must have hurt themselves.

warehouse

MJK4711 wrote: »

They are out till all hours some nights (till 1am weekends, 10.30 midweek) so you can imagine the noise I hear when they come in.

If you want to play them at their own game then 6am sounds perfect.