Noise Nuisance/Flooring issues complain

magicmcone

Good evening everyone,
I have received today a letter from Islington council as I was reported by one of my neighbours due to nuisance caused by inadequate flooring being laid in my flat.
It does say that there is a clause on my lease that states not to undertake any any repairs or alteration to the property including laying laminate flooring, but I have read the lease 10 times today and haven’t found such.
It requests me to lay rugs but that it further complaints are received further action may be enforced by requesting that the whole property is carpeted.
We really do want to cooperate, but we bought the property just 4 months ago and it had already hard flooring throughout (that we have since upgraded) and we made sure that it was permitted in the lease as my wife has asthma and carpet was a not an option for us.
The flat is a ex-local authority.
I will call them tomorrow, but this has distressed me big time. As I said we are happy to do what we can to reduce noise to others, but carpeting is really not an option for us.

Where do we stand if they ever request us to do so?

Many thanks in advance to get to the end...

davidmcn

Ask them to point out the relevant clause in your lease. Though bear in mind they may have remedies about noise nuisance even without a specific covenant about the type of flooring.

magicmcone

I will, and as I said, I do understand the issue for other properties and I am willing to cooperate, but could they force me to lay carpet down specially given our health concerns? I would rather reinstall the flooring with a top market noise reducing underfloor.

davidmcn

magicmcone said:

could they force me to lay carpet down specially

Not without something specific in the lease. Other measures which reduce the noise to an acceptable level would be fine.

MalMonroe

I think it's sad that your neighbours went straight to the council rather than you in the first instance. 

As davidmcn suggests, I'd ask the council to point out the relevant clause but why have you got a lease if you have actually bought your property? Or is it a list of terms and conditions? I'd have to also ask the council why they've just accepted what your neighbours have said as the truth without having referred to you beforehand. Both the council and you appear to have accepted what that neighbour has said, without question and without any proof.

I would also want to have a word with those neighbours, although it's not possible right now with the lockdown but I don't mean in an aggressive way, just to find out how they managed with the previous owners of your flat and why the upgrade you carried out hasn't helped with any noise reduction. If in fact there was noise. Do you and your wife walk around in hobnail boots or something? 

I'd also contact Citizens Advice about this because it all seems really strange to me. This link from them is interesting - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/if-your-neighbour-is-complaining-about-you/

davidmcn

MalMonroe said:

why have you got a lease if you have actually bought your property?

Because that's how flats work in England & Wales - you buy the tenant's interest in a (long) lease of the flat.

magicmcone

Thanks for your thoughtful reply @MalMonroe.
We have a lease as it’s a ex-local authority, so the council is the freeholder and we are leaseholders.
I thought of trying to talk with the neighbour, but even though I assume it’s from downstairs due to the nature of complain, the letter does not state it and would not like to knock just randomly.
Honestly, a lot of things in the letter seem wrong to me. Firstly, as I said, that they state a clause that unless I’m blind it’s definitely not on the lease and then the fact that they approached me in such a bully way taking the neighbour’s word for granted as you said and without trying to help to look for solutions first. 
Quite literally it says that they request me to lay rugs, but if further complaints are made they may enforce further requiring me to lay carpet.
Therefore my question if that way of dealing was reasonable.

NameUnavailable

Most leases I've seen have a standard clause about the need for carpet or other flooring that will reduce noise. Is there anything at all in your lease about flooring?

Do you walk about with shoes on? Anyone wear high heels (they are particularly noisey)? Dragging chairs etc on the floors? Just wondering if you're causing noise dispruption without realising it, the neighbours must be hearing something.

magicmcone

The lease states:
”To keep the floors including stairs and landings (if any)substantially covered with suitable materials for reasonably minimising the transmission of noise to other dwellings”
As I said, we did change the flooring, but proper underlay with soundproofing properties was put. Also, if things get extreme, would rather install top quality underlay rather than carpet, due to the health issues that I mentioned.

 Don’t mean that the complain is not genuine, I do believe that they must hear something but we never use any shoes at home. 

My other guess was if the complain was made when we did some renovations before moving in and was just picked up now, but doesn’t make much sense as it was 4 months ago and would not be related to the nature of the flooring.

Norman_Castle

What underlay was used and what underlay was used under the previous hard floor? If the new floor is touching the wall or frames noise can be transmitted this way.

The lease doesn't specify exactly what floor you are expected to have so its questionable about what is "suitable".

You've fitted hard flooring which is normally assumed to be noisier for neighbours and are assuming the freeholder hasn't assesed the level of noise. They have suggested rugs as an alternative to replacing the entire floor, thats reasanable of them.

magicmcone

I have used the underlay suggested by the fitter, which was claimed to have 19db of soundproofing, don’t really know what was before. Once again, if issues with the flooring are identified I am more than happy to resolve them.
On the other side I am not assuming anything. The letter says that the action is taken on the grounds of a complaint, nothing stated about it being investigated. I am being literal on the interpretation. 

Assuming would be thinking that they might have done so without any evidence of it.