Is there nothing we can do about 'everyday' noise from neighbours?

vuvuzela

jhs14 wrote: »

Universities are concerned about their reputation and maintaining good relations with local communities and residents. They will get involved and in extreme situations will even threaten students with expulsion.

Completely agree. At the University near me, there is a person who is their dedicated student/'locals' liaison officer and she is out every weekend talking to students and letting them know they can be thrown out of the University if there are multiple substantiated complaints about their behaviour. I know her from when she visited the ones living next to me a couple of years ago, and she says she rarely has to go back to a house a couple of times.
Obviously it's different with one-off parties, but if they are regularly up making lots of noise after midnight, this is definitely the sort of thing most Universities would talk to them about.

PurplePow

The University I used to work at had policies in place and also worked with the police. If the police were involved they passed the information onto the University, but otherwise residents can contact the University to make complaints. The students would face disciplinary action, and were interviewed, given warnings or fined for making noise as it brought down the reputation of the University.

martin1959

You mention you live in a terrace.....what about the neighbours the other side of the students....are they OK with the noise or are they prepared 'to join forces' with you?


Good advice above re contacting Uni. Uni's find it hard to get enough private accommodation for students, they probably would not want to risk a landlord withdrawing from the HMO student market.


If all else fails, hire a couple of disco bass bins and put them against the wall of the students.....5 mins of 'It's all about the Bass' at 5am, when you get up for work, and they may get the message......

movilogo

If it is normal household activities like walking, talking etc. there is not much you can do.

Probably nothing at all if they are caused by children.

However, if they are running loud musics, dancing, jumping, having parties often then you do have a point.

Unfortunately, this is one of the problems living in terraced houes - especially newly built ones where walls are almost paper thin.

We live in a rented terraced house,

May be you need to move elsewhere. I know it is not what you wanted to hear but that's the pragmatic approach especially when council has already stated there is not much they could help with.

ReadingTim

It's petty, spiteful and could end badly, but you could always consider a bit of noise when they're trying to sleep - students tend not to be early risers, so perhaps a bit of hoovering at 8am on a Sunday morning, radio on quite loudly when you get up for work etc...?!? April, May and June is likely to be exam time too...just saying....

More seriously, if they are students, they're likely to be out by the end of July and hopefully the next lot will be a little quieter - while not ideal, the situation isn't going to last forever...

vuvuzela

martin1959 wrote: »

You mention you live in a terrace.....what about the neighbours the other side of the students....are they OK with the noise or are they prepared 'to join forces' with you?


Good advice above re contacting Uni. Uni's find it hard to get enough private accommodation for students, they probably would not want to risk a landlord withdrawing from the HMO student market.


If all else fails, hire a couple of disco bass bins and put them against the wall of the students.....5 mins of 'It's all about the Bass' at 5am, when you get up for work, and they may get the message......

I think for your first point, it depends on the layout of the house. I don't hear much at all from one side, as they have their kitchen on one floor and bathroom above between our houses. Between us and the other one though, it's living room to living room and bedroom to bedroom so if they are loud, it's noticeable. This current household of students aren't too bad at all for us, but some have been simply appalling.

2nd point wouldn't apply where I am (and I suspect many other places), there is a massive over-supply of student housing. It may have been different in the past (ie over 15 years ago), but now there are too many flats and houses to go round. Case in point, the house on one side of us (sadly the quiet one) was unoccupied for 2 years. That particular landlord would have missed out on £25,000 of rent.

3rd point is petty and brings you down to their level. In cases like this, you have to show you're the better person. Getting involved in a 'loudness war' makes both sets of residents look like !!!!s.

mildredalien

Thanks all for the advice and suggestions!

We have written to the letting agency (the one upside of the blight of letting signs everywhere is knowing who exactly is responsible for the letting of the house!!) who have asked for more details and said that they will contact the tenants and landlord involved. Whether they do or not is another question but it's a good first step. I think the uni will be the next stop if we have no joy.

I accept that living in a terraced house in a fairly student heavy area will incur noise. If it was just weekends, or the odd night here and there then it would be much more manageable (if still annoying), but it seems to be pretty much every night at the moment! I think we've just been unlucky enough to live next to the students who 'host' their friends every night. Can't they go and live in the pub like we used to do??

I'm definitely not going to get down to their level as tempting as it may be, all we can do is try and remind them when necessary (and get their landlords/the uni to remind them as well...) that they live in a house with thin walls, next to neighbours who actually work during the day, and don't appreciate being kept or woken up in the small hours!

Unfortunately while moving is an option, it's not a great one - we are renting from people we know, who accept and allow our 3 cats which is not an easy task in rented accommodation! We are hoping to stay in the same place and avoid moving costs/hassle until we can buy (fingers crossed within the next year...) Very much a last resort

kinger101

martin1959 wrote: »

You mention you live in a terrace.....what about the neighbours the other side of the students....are they OK with the noise or are they prepared 'to join forces' with you?


Good advice above re contacting Uni. Uni's find it hard to get enough private accommodation for students, they probably would not want to risk a landlord withdrawing from the HMO student market.


If all else fails, hire a couple of disco bass bins and put them against the wall of the students.....5 mins of 'It's all about the Bass' at 5am, when you get up for work, and they may get the message......

So, annoy other innocent residents in retaliation? Hmmmm