Any advice with my matter will be highly appreciated - noisy neighbour

Alex1B

Hi all,

I lived in this proprety  for 6 years (owned), and since last year in spring the house next door was occupied by a family that has multiple kids, very young (probably council tenants, not sure). Since then I was forced to endure a high level of constant noise (i.e indoor/outdoor(garden) shouting kids and parents, loud talking, slaming doors and so on) and at the same time realised how thin the walls were (I am considering to insulate common walls against noise).

I am unsure what my approach should be, as just the basic discussion between neighbours did not work. If you can help with answers to the below questions, that would be great:

1. How do I find if they are council tenants and who is the landlord of proprety?

2. If a complaint is made to the council, how long it will take them to act on my concern and to resolve it (from your experience)?

3. If proprety is sold at a later time, if any loss is suffered, can I make the lanlord liable for it, as he, in my opinion is responsible for the tenants?

I did read multiple threads on this forum, but unfortunately, a clear answer was not found on my questions. Any kind of advice is welcomed.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Kind regards,

Alex

comeandgo

sounds like normal family life.  You won't get anywhere with the council, what difference does it make if they are council tenants anyway.  I think you should look at insulation.

ProDave

This is a problem with houses joined to each other. It is really a silly way to build them, but it is cheaper.

I am SO glad I now live in a detached house, and detached from the neighbours by a good distance.  But I only achieved that by moving to a cheaper part of the country.  If i had stayed where I was born, I doubt I would ever have been able to afford a detached house and would have had a life of enduring other people's noise.

AdrianC

Alex1B said:

1. How do I find if they are council tenants and who is the landlord of proprety?

Does it make any difference? You can pay £3 to Land Registry, get hold of the title for the property, and find out who owns it.

But how will that affect what you do next? You're going to complain to the landlord? How do you think that'll improve matters?

2. If a complaint is made to the council, how long it will take them to act on my concern and to resolve it (from your experience)?

The council's environmental health can and will act on noise complaints, but at the moment I can't imagine it being their highest priority, can you?

3. If proprety is sold at a later time, if any loss is suffered, can I make the lanlord liable for it, as he, in my opinion is responsible for the tenants?

1. Quantify the reduction in value directly attributable to the neighbours. Impossible.
2. If claim is for more than £10k, it's not a small claim. Expensive and complex to claim.
3. Prove the landlord is liable. He isn't.

Comms69

Alex1B said:

Hi all,

I lived in this proprety  for 6 years (owned), and since last year in spring the house next door was occupied by a family that has multiple kids, very young (probably council tenants, not sure). Since then I was forced to endure a high level of constant noise (i.e indoor/outdoor(garden) shouting kids and parents, loud talking, slaming doors and so on) and at the same time realised how thin the walls were (I am considering to insulate common walls against noise).

I am unsure what my approach should be, as just the basic discussion between neighbours did not work. If you can help with answers to the below questions, that would be great:

1. How do I find if they are council tenants and who is the landlord of proprety?

2. If a complaint is made to the council, how long it will take them to act on my concern and to resolve it (from your experience)?

3. If proprety is sold at a later time, if any loss is suffered, can I make the lanlord liable for it, as he, in my opinion is responsible for the tenants?

I did read multiple threads on this forum, but unfortunately, a clear answer was not found on my questions. Any kind of advice is welcomed.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Kind regards,

Alex

What relevance is the fact you own and they rent? just curious.

Sounds like everyday noise. Not blasting music at 2 am. Just normal household noise.

1: you can look up the land registry details. However this does not help really, as neithe rthe landlord or the council are obliged to act.

2: In the current situation, months. And will then tell you, tough - this is normal noise.

3: no.

Here's a clear answer. If you dont want to hear noise, dont live near other people.

elsien

It isn't the landlords role to police the behaviour of their tenants in that respect, whether council or private.
Some councils do run a mediation scheme (although probably not mid-covid) so that is an avenue you could explore.
Otherwise it does sound like just loud individuals rather than antisocial behaviour such as music blasting out at 3am. In which case there isn't really anything for the council to resolve. I do know how annoying it is - next door has one child masquerading as a screaming elephant, but he is just a child being a child, albeit a very heavy footed and I'm pretty sure his parents are more frustrated by the tantrums than I am.
When considering sound proofing, you need to consider that sound travels through the floor as well as walls so just insulating the walls may not give the result you hope for.

When you say the basic discussion with neighbours didn't work, what does that mean? What did you say and how did they respond?

Comms69

elsien said:

It isn't the landlords role to police the behaviour of their tenants in that respect, whether council or private.
Some councils do run a mediation scheme (although probably not mid-covid) so that is an avenue you could explore.
Otherwise it does sound like just loud individuals rather than antisocial behaviour such as music blasting out at 3am. In which case there isn't really anything for the council to resolve. I do know how annoying it is - next door has one child masquerading as a screaming elephant, but he is just a child being a child, albeit a very heavy footed and I'm pretty sure his parents are more frustrated by the tantrums than I am.
When considering sound proofing, you need to consider that sound travels through the floor as well as walls so just insulating the walls may not give the result you hope for.

When you say the basic discussion with neighbours didn't work, what does that mean? What did you say and how did they respond?

Given the subtext in the OP, i can only imagine how this went!

HampshireH

"(probably council tenants, not sure)"
Wow! 

If they are council tenants now the whoever was there before probably would have been too for the otje 5 years you lived there. Did anything about them mean you stereotyped them to also be council tenants?

Anyone can be noisy.

theartfullodger

In my experience council tenants are usually much to be preferred to middle class home owners whining on about property prices.

This is largely nothing to do with landlords, simply follow CaB excellent advice on their website about neighbour disputes

TuppenceWorth

OP.
I am no expert but DO NOT expect anything from anyone if you feel there is a quantifiable loss from a future sale.

Also, be aware that official complaints would need to be declared to the buyers solicitor.
I too was wondering why the reference to council tenants, but now understand that it was to establish the landlord. Not snobbery.

Finally, hope it does improve for you. Although its "family life" next door, it still sounds a major headache for you.

LoveSauce

You mentioned nothing about noise in the night. So there is literally nothing they are doing wrong. I, too, hate hearing other neighbours through the wall, which is why im going for a detchached house. Unfortunately, when you buy a teracced house, you are also buying your neighbours and any future neighbours! Peace of mind comes at a price!