Noisy neighbours & disputes not disclosed on SPIF form

Bingjamin

Hi all,
We have just passed our 1 year anniversary since moving in out our first home, an ex-local authority one bedroom flat in Richmond.
Since moving in there has always been noisy; creaky floorboards, music (not late), heavy footfall and large bangs and vibrations in our living room from children running around next door and above. This was manageable at first, potentially because we were new to it and excited, but as time has passed this has become more and more disruptive and very difficult to cope with, to the point where we have had to communicate in person and in letter to three of our neighbours (one next door and two above). Each time we have not been rude or bossy, but have simply notified them of the issues we are facing and if there is anything that can be done to help us we would be very grateful. Two out of the three examples, both from the neighbours above, did not end well, both were very angry and confrontational (I must add at this point that in both examples we did not engage in the arguments they were looking for and simply tried to diffuse the situations, but they both reacted badly to say the lease). My questions to you are:
1) I am 100% sure that the seller was aware of the noise, because it is so intrusive, but have also been made aware by our neighbour below that the seller had several disputes with the neighbour above previously. So, do I have a claim to go back to him for misrepresentation on the SPIF as nothing at all was disclosed about noise or disputes? What evidence am I likely to need? I fear that we may have to reduce the price after disclosing our own issues.
2) How much of the above will I be legally required to disclose on my own SPIF form when selling this property in the future. Appreciate honestly is the best policy and don't want anything to come back to me in the future, but also want to sell the property without reducing the price. 
Thanks and any previous experience/knowledge on the matter would be very helpful.
Dan

greatcrested

1) If you can prove that there was a formal ongoing dispute with the neighbours that was not declared, you may have a claim. It's not enough that 'they must have been aware of the noise'. Were there exchanges of letters? Did it escalate to the council's noise prevention officer (or similar)? Was an injunction taken out?

2) as above. If you escalate this into a formaldispute (as opposed to polite conversations and a single letter that led to no further action), then you'll have to declare it.

iampetesmith

If they haven't formally reported it, then they don't have to declare it. Since we moved into ours, it turns out our seller didn't get on with his neighbours but there was nothing on the SPIF so I'm just guessing he never reported them.

I also think that he was the one who wound them up, as they're nice to us and they're glad we moved in instead. From what I can gather he complained a lot about parking outside the house, which doesn't bother me as they don't block the drive where I need to get on or off.

Anyway, if you find you can't stand it and want to sell, just don't make any formal complaints and you won't have to mention it.

davidmcn

iampetesmith said:

If they haven't formally reported it, then they don't have to declare it.

Not quite - the relevant questions are

"Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?" [no need for disputes or complaints to be "formal"]

but also

"Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?"

hazyjo

Yes but noise is a very subjective thing.

If the previous owners found it bearable and the new lot don't, who's to say who's right or wrong?

We have a professional musician next door. Doesn't bother us if you hear a trumpet playing somewhere in the background or his garden room, or her singing the occasional set of scales or song. We're quite proud of having them there. Others might not agree!

Davesnave

You found it bearable at first, then became what's known as 'sensitised.'  This can happen with any kind of noise irritation.

As hazyjo says, noise is a subjective thing and people have different tolerances to it. Some also have unrealistic expectations when they buy or rent a flat, where people are living in close proximity with each other.

Selling at the present time is out of the question for most people, so I'd build bridges, rather than destroy them.

maximoose94

We moved into a property and later found out that there were numerous formal complaints to the local council about a neighbour that hadn't been disclosed. One of the complaints even ended up in Court. 

We tried to take the previous owners to Small Claims. Took over a year. Judge decided that the house had been fraudulently misrepresented but stated that they felt we would have purchased the house anyway had we known about the complaints (not true despite my adamance and a complete assumption).

Moral of the story. Don't rely on the SPIF, even though you're entitled to. 

[Deleted User]

Since moving in there has always been noisy; creaky floorboards, music (not late), heavy footfall and large bangs and vibrations in our living room from children running around next door and above. 

You have listed noises arguably characteristic of living in a flat (floorboards creek, people walk on floors above, music played at reasonable times, children mess about). And you have stated that there were manageable.

I would take the view that a reasonable person would not regard that as worthy of dispute, even if particular individuals might themselves find it unpleasant and eventually unmanageable.

RelievedSheff

I really don't think that you will have any come back from the previous owner.

You have said yourself that the noise was tolerable when you first moved in. Unfortunately with so many people and children living in close proximity there is going to be noise transmission between the flats.

Your options are really to either live with the noise, try to dampen the noise (although this will likely be a futile attempt as noise travels in many ways through buildings, or to accept that you can not live with the noise and sell the property and move on using it as experience and looking more closely at how your next home adjoins it's neighbouring property (although this last option may not even be possible at this present time).

I do have some sympathy for you as we lived with noisy and obnoxious neighbours in our last property an ex local authority semi detached property and it was a living hell. It really did affect our quality of life and it was a living hell for 12 years. We couldn't sell the property as we didn't have enough equity in it. Thankfully last year we managed to finally move on and leave that period behind us.