Noisey neighbours, friendly advice on what to do.

Zoe1345

Aranyani said:

Zoe1345 said:

MovingForwards said:

I feel for you. My last rental was a living hell between the screaming banshee next door and the banging / crashing party animals above and below, made worse by lockdown when they were either on furlough or lost their jobs. I was working from home, neighbours carried on only with longer hours. My average sleep was 30 - 90 minutes generally from 5 or 6am, before trying to do a full day again.

My out was knowing I had my purchase going through, which kept me going until everything went on hold for a bit and losing that bit of hope broke me, my body gave up.

The neighbours always denied everything and said it wasn't them.

Can you bring your plans forward and move sooner? Or focus on knowing you've an out.

Thanks. That sounds horrendous. I think I'm averaging about 90-120 mins. By the time I get to sleep following the noise stopping at 3am, its generally about 4:30 (I'm so over tired by then that it takes a while) and then I'm up at 6 for work. My migraines (which it thought I'd kicked) have returned, I'm dependant on caffeine which has a huge effect on my gut, 

Kick the caffeine immediately, that will just be exacerbating your problems sleeping. 

Tanks for the "kick the caffeine" comments all. I'm aware of the negative effects of it for gut health and sleep (although there are studies that question just how much it keeps you up...). I'm slowly transitioning to decaf anyway, but I'll go mad giving it up all together. There's a psychological factor at play with the ritualistic behaviour of coffee drinkers generally which is more valuable than the caffeine hit. 

Zoe1345

Gentoo365 said:

Will you be declaring the noise issue when you sell? I am guessing not. 
Which I guess is the issue with these things. Nobody would declare a noise issue. At least not one that is 'annoying' rather than obviously unlawful. It's just one of the potential issues with shared walls. 
If it is any consolation, the human brain is very good at slowly getting used to noise it considers 'normal'.

This is now the dilemma. We have resigned ourselves mostly that they are unlikely to change very much with their noise levels. So what do we do when we sell? How far do we go in declaring this. Do I full on and upfront state that I haven't had a full night sleep in months because of them, and that it sounds like they are coming through the bedroom wall when they showers at 3am. Do we wait until asked? Or do I note that we've had to discuss noise with them a few times and it's a terrace and daily living noises can be heard. 
We weren't told a thing of this. 
We can't afford to loose money when we sell as we have done a fair amount of Reno on the place. 

Zoe1345

Scotbot said:

I well remember going to see friends who at the time had 4 kids under the age of 6,  the noise was IMO horrendous but the parents were completely oblivious. I guess they had just got used to it.  Noise is so subjective. I am very sensitive to it, once lived under the Heathrow flight path which drove me nuts but my neighbours were all used to it and not at all bothered. So your neighbours almost certainly hear you but it doesn't register.
There is not a lot you can do about noisy teenagers they are not the most reasonable of humans and from your posts it sounds like their parents are also fed up with them. If you decide not to move then you are going to have to come up with coping strategies. Don't stress about making noise first thing, play whatever music you like in the day time ( Verdi's Requiem is an excellent stress reliever and nothing can compete with a 60 piece orchestra at full tilt). You don't  need to be considerate of the vampire elephants as they won't notice you. Invest in white noise apps for bedtime, I like sounds of the ocean. If you work from home start an hour later and get an extra nights sleep. Then next time buy a house where the bedrooms don't  have shared walls

I'm a Mozart Requiem fan... Far more menacing. I wonder how they'd feel about that at 2am? 
All of the above are exactly as we are now planning! As we are moving out of the commuter belt, we are hoping to be able to afford something detached! 

knightstyle

Hi Z, we are in a very similar position and after years of interrupted sleep and other anti-social behaviour we are at last selling.  On the forms we have filled in truthfully we did not have to say anything about noise from next door.
So move away ASAP, all this is ruining your health and can have lasting effects.
You say you cannot afford to loose money but you may have to do just that.  We bought in 2006 for £142k and are now selling for £125k  due to this lovely new build estate being dragged down by renters like our neighbours.
Put your house on the market now and accept any reasonable offer. 

Zoe1345

@knightstyle I'm glad you're getting away from your noisy neighbours! Hurrah.
We'd love to be in the position too right now, yet, estate agent fees, stamp duty (unlikely to complete before the holiday runs out), moving costs. It just isn't feasible excess cash we have. We also need to finish a few reno projects on the house (downstairs WC is grim to say the least) before it's salable. We hope to have this all in hand in a year. 
Good luck with your move.  I hope your new neighbours are a dream! 
Did your conveyancer advise on what to put on the forms? 

knightstyle

No advice on what to put, we just filled them in truthfully with as little information as possible. Fortunately, knowing we would move, we hadn't reported the noise issues to any authorities.  We had reported untaxed cars and dumped furniture on the estate but the forms do not ask for that to be declared.

Zoe1345

knightstyle said:

No advice on what to put, we just filled them in truthfully with as little information as possible. Fortunately, knowing we would move, we hadn't reported the noise issues to any authorities.  We had reported untaxed cars and dumped furniture on the estate but the forms do not ask for that to be declared.

We haven't declared anything either or are we going to. As people have noted it's "living noise" it's subjective. But we were warned that people might try to argue we should declare as a "may cause dispute". 
Your estate sounds wonderful. I bet you're glad to be out! 

Gycraig

I have been on the other side of this and it’s horrific, moved into a hmo with similar issues stairs didn’t seem to have a lining.
first day I was there I was moving all my stuff upstairs at about 7pm , neighbour came round kicking off about the noise, so I started walking slower and quieter, he came round again. Wasn’t so apologetic this time, asked him how I was supposed to get my possessions upstairs and mentioned it wasn’t my fault he had bought a house that had no sound proofing next to a set of stairs. 

Every tenant that moved in he was at the door kicking off about the stairs no matter what the time or how careful they where. 

Used to deliver pizzas and get home at 12 oclock, he came round next day asking me to be more quiet when I come home as I woke his kids up with my music, apologised took it on board. Few days later he runs in front of my car and says “if you keep slamming that bloody door at 12oclock me and my mates will kick it down” Ended in a massive argument. luckily I just moved a few months  later but the guys life must have been a living hell. 

We had a neighbour who had the most annoying we laugh who would go out for a smoke at 1 in the morning and laugh loudly for a good 10 minutes, it made me want to strangle her but I never said anything as it’s just life when you can’t afford a detached.
 

You need to either move or start soundproofing your side, other people will not change what is a normal noise in there opinion because the neighbour doesn’t like it. 

hopeitwill

I see some of the comments are around using noise cancelling headphones. Don't do that if you do not want to get tinnitus. I have done that for a long time and I have horrible tinnitus which I will have probably for the rest of my life.

Our neighbours are not the best now, but previous ones, with 3 little boys, had been great. I could hardly hear them through a wall so thin. They were loud playing in the garden, but that's understandable really. Birthday parties would be loud but again understandable.

The ones we have on either side are very annoying. We are in a semi-detached but our garage is attached on the right side. So on one side, where the garage is attached to the house on the right, we have a kid who throws tennis balls for hours on end and that sound moves around the whole house. I banged the wall a few times to make it stop but it goes on after 10 minutes.

And on the other side, we have neighbours that we share a wall with. The children love to stomp and run around the house which sometimes shake the house literally. They talk with their friends over facetime, screaming at each other. They have non-stop guests coming at all times. The guests are as loud if not louder as they are. And this was during the lockdown might I say and I refuse to believe all those people were in their "bubble". They watch movies incredibly loud at times, listen to music with bass. It's just crazy.

I must admit, I am very susceptible to noise but I just don't understand not getting the same respect we have for our neighbours.

And again, be very careful about using the noise cancelling headphones, you do not want tinnitus in your life.

knightstyle

Yes Z it used to be wonderful but as the original purchasers moved out they started letting the properties, gradually more and more became let and several problem families arrived.  Next door front garden has the smashed up front half of a renault in it, burnt out wheely bins plus piles of rubbish, hundreds of nappies etc. every few months the council come and remove stuff from the pavements but the stuff in the gardens just gets worse till they are evicted and go somewhere else, then another lot come and the cycle starts all over again.
Two families round here have moved four times that we know of and in each case the council helps with deposits etc. as they are classed as vulnerable.  Children are not looked after, still in nappies when they start school and swearing like troopers.
My advice to all is do not buy a new build or you could end up like this.