Toxic Neighbour (Literally)

DX-SFX

We live in the top flat of a two flat modified Victorian house in Chiswick. We have the quintessential young neighbour from hell downstairs. Loud music, banging doors, visitors at three and four in the morning and drug dealing. We've complained numerous times to the council (Ealing) and the police and getting nowhere. The housing officer handling the case clearly takes sympathy with the single mum being a contemporary and of course the tenant is an angel when the officer is visiting. To cut a long story short, now, usually between the hours of 11pm and 3am, she's either smoking drugs or burning something which not only stinks up our flat but makes it impossible to sleep. She knows we've complained and has clearly embarked on a voyage of intimidation (she's the type). My question is the council need proof. Is there any agency (independent would be great because the council is hopeless) we can approach who can send someone qualified at that late hour to smell the atmosphere and proclaim it unhealthy because we've come to the end of our tether?

DoaM

I don't think Consumer Rights is the right board for this topic.

DX-SFX

I was unsure which one to put it under. As a rent payer, this was the nearest I could think of.

eddddy

The correct authorities to  complain to would be...

1. The local council's Environmental Health Department - about the noise, smell and fumes nuisance
2. The police - about illegal drugs activity

But the challenge is often persuading those authorities to take action, because they are over stretched.

Environmental Health Depts often ask people to start keeping a diary - the dates, times, duration etc of noise, smells etc. So maybe start doing that, to support a complaint to Environment Health department.

This website seems to have useful info about complaining to Environmental Health, and their statutory duty to investigate: https://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/policy-areas/air-quality/air-pollution-law-and-policy/pollution-nuisance/

mattyprice4004

I'd move, I've fought these battles and it's just easier. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DX-SFX said:

I was unsure which one to put it under. As a rent payer, this was the nearest I could think of.

You'd get a better answer on the board below I think, not that poster here don't want to help just posters who know more about this kind of thing tend to be on the other board

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/house-buying-renting-selling

davidmcn

DX-SFX said:

Is there any agency (independent would be great because the council is hopeless) we can approach who can send someone qualified at that late hour to smell the atmosphere and proclaim it unhealthy because we've come to the end of our tether?

I'm sure there are suitable people who will come and give you some sort of expert evidence, though I suspect that being able to smell what your neighbours are burning is somewhat different from it actually being a danger to your health.

Have you checked whether you can block its route(s) into your flat from your side?

ETA: I see I gave you similar advice on 7 June 2018 - have you followed it?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74381598/#Comment_74381598

hollydays

You first posted about this 18 months ago.You never returned to the thread. If it was me, I'd have moved by now.Pot smoking is considered very mainstream now.But you mention drug dealing, yet also claim no one is interested. What evidence of it do you have?

AdrianC

hollydays said:

You first posted about this 18 months ago.

23 months... June 2018.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5853199/pot-smoking-neighbours

Definitely MOVE.

Windofchange

As others have mentioned above, just move. I had this about 10 years ago when I moved into a small self contained top floor studio as part of a larger house with three other housemates in the floors below. Two were fine, but one of them smoked weed all hours of the day, played loud music at random times, and it turned out after a few months was running some sort of escort or prostitution business from her room - 'boyfriends' would ring the bell at all hours of the day and night. It is slightly different I guess in that we were all under one roof as opposed to separate units like yourself, but the landlord was unwilling to do anything, and the Tennant in question never really came out of her room other than to go to the toilet, and never responded to requests for a 'house meeting'. Come six month break clause I just got out. It was a cheap place for the rent, but there was obviously a reason. I'd rather pay an extra couple of hundred pounds a month to not live in some sort of brothel / drug den. 

In terms of what you can do - depressingly little as it stands. When I lived with my ex just up the road from you in Putney, next door had a 20 year old son who wanted to be some sort of DJ / music producer. His parents were minted, and clearly indulged his fantasies - branded BMW out front, recording studio and general party place built at the bottom of the garden etc etc. The kid would sleep all day, and then get up late afternoon, and then the weed and music would start. I remember snapping one Monday night when I had an interview the next day at 9am and he decided it was time to work on his latest drum and bass track at about 1am. Thing is, he would also put strobes and light arrays on in his party shed which was only about 10 metres from the house (London sized Gardens), so you not only had your innards shaking from his club sized speaker array, but you got the flashing disco lights too through your curtains. Spent 5 minutes hammering on their door and no answer. Finally the mother opened it with a bit of a what's the issue look on her face. Got into a large argument about what the F'ing hell was going on, and could they not ask laddie to not play his music in the early hours 5 nights a week (Funnily enough, Friday and Saturday nights were the quietest - presumably because he was out at the clubs and bars). Called the council, environmental health involved who asked me to keep a diary. Diary duly kept, and after a couple of months they had called to investigate. However, as in your case, nothing found, no music playing etc etc, case closed. Suggestion was to call the police the next time it happened which I did, but obviously investigating noise disturbance isn't top of their list of things to give a toss about. By the time a patrol car pulled up some 3 hours later it had all calmed down and they drove off. 

This was all still going on up to and including the night that I moved out due to our splitting up. I cannot imagine that things have changed any - his website is still up and running, and I bet my ex is still woken up at all sorts of ungodly hours. In the 4 years that I lived there, we got absolutely nothing changed despite numerous confrontations and involvement of the council / police. The burden of proof seems to fall on you rather than the offending party. Seriously, just move. 

spoovy

DX-SFX said:

We have the quintessential young neighbour from hell downstairs. Loud music, banging doors, visitors at three and four in the morning and drug dealing. We've complained numerous times to the council (Ealing) and the police and getting nowhere. The housing officer handling the case clearly takes sympathy with the single mum being a contemporary and of course the tenant is an angel when the officer is visiting. To cut a long story short, now, usually between the hours of 11pm and 3am, she's either smoking drugs or burning something which not only stinks up our flat but makes it impossible to sleep. She knows we've complained and has clearly embarked on a voyage of intimidation (she's the type).  Is there any agency (independent would be great because the council is hopeless) we can approach who can send someone qualified at that late hour to smell the atmosphere and proclaim it unhealthy because we've come to the end of our tether?

Honestly if I hadn't read your previous thread on this subject I'd think this was a wind-up; you come across like a character out of Little Britain.
Different people have different lifestyles.  If you really can't learn to live alongside this person then you need to move out, wasting police time on this is ridiculous.   Just be happy that you rent so it should be easy to move on.