Noise from flat upstairs

Dory45

Hi all, 
In need of legal advice please...
I am currently living in a ground floor flat (property owned) and above me there are tenants who have recently moved who make anti-social noise, past 11pm. They can also be heard walking around throughout the day, slamming doors etc, and they have also left a lot of rubbish (bin bags, boxes, etc) in the communal flat foyer. We have approached them to ask that they keep the noise down but this has not worked and they became confrontational. We would consider the landlord to be uncooperative in the matter and so we are reluctant to ask him to approach them.   
We are the flat freeholders and as part of the flat lease above, the clause states that carpet should be fitted throughout. The landlord is not willing to cooperate on this either. 
We have put soundproofing in, but the noise from the tenants can be heard through this. It's making our lives hell, and we can't sleep through the noise! 
Does anyone know if we have grounds to pursue this legally? We've invested so much into our home and it would be heartbreaking to have to move out because of the new tenants.
Many thanks in advance. 

AskAsk

tell the landlord that he needs to keep his tenants in check.  they will only listen to him if they are ignoring you.

does the flat above have carpeted floors?  and is the noise proofing in their flat or yours?

elsien

If the lease says they should have carpets and they don't, then the freeholder can look at enforcing that section of the lease. What the processes and costs are,  I have no idea, but if you are sure that there is no carpet then you could raise this with the owner of the upstairs flat in writing, as a starting point.There are template letters online for the purpose.
 Is he also a freeholder? 

DevilDamo

Assuming there’s a management company for the general upkeep and appointment of Directors, you could approach them?

And to add... communal areas should be kept clear at all times as it’s a fire escape issue. 

troffasky

Dory45 said:

Does anyone know if we have grounds to pursue this legally?

You basically have to threaten to forfeit the lease.

Does the lease for the upstairs flat include a clause allowing the freeholder to inspect the property? If so, you will be able to inspect and pursue the leaseholder [not their tenant] for breach of the lease. Hopefully the lease also says something about leaving stuff in the communal areas.

Very easy to type those words, but in reality, pursuing breach[es] of the lease is going to be time-consuming and expensive for you. As freeholder, however, you are in a better position than if you were merely just another leaseholder.

Dory45

Thanks all.

@AskAsk the flat upstairs has thinly carpeted bedrooms (we suspect it doesn't have suitable underlay) and laminate flooring in communal areas. We had the soundproofing done on our ceilings - our living room and bedroom (which are the areas that get the most noise from upstairs) but sadly it hasn't made a difference and we can still hear their conversations loudly through our ceiling into our bedroom at night (past 11), which is torturous!  

@elsien We have approached him about breaching his lease and asked him to put carpets down and he accused us of threatening him (we even offered to pay half the cost of fitting the carpets to ensure he doesn't put cheap, thin ones down). 

@DevilDamo We do have a management company which we would contact ordinarily, but they too have reached out to the landlord (about the issues with the boxes in the foyer) and he just ignores them. He also withholds his ground rent which has been a big problem for us.Totally agree re: the fire hazard, but since the tenants were confrontational we're reluctant to approach them again.

@troffasky forfeiting the lease is certainly not something we have looked into simply because of our hesitance to go down a legal route, but we will research into this, thanks.

AskAsk

you can force them to put in carpet throughout if the lease states so.  you would need to instruct a solicitor.  i would say threaten the landlord with legal action to enforce carpets throughout unless he deals with the noise.

twopenny

I wonder what the terms of their tennancy are?

Is it a set term or rolling?

This gives some idea of types and what the conditions are

https://www.haart.co.uk/landlords/lettings-process/types-of-tenancies/

pollypenny

We had this nightmare. The only solution was to move. 

Phil4432

I take it you are renting.
Just move, it'll be very hard to solve.  Councils don't care and sociopaths will get worse, once they know they have a victim.  Look for someplace else and give your notice.  Your problem could be solved soon.

Dory45

@Phil4432 no we own our property, we are freeholders and we also have completely renovated our entire flat within the past 2 years so really don’t want to move although I appreciate what you’re saying, about being difficult to solve and them getting worse.