Neighbours showering at 1am - what can I do?

MalMonroe

MoonChild91 said:

I currently live in a through terrace with neighbours on each side; in one of these properties the bathroom is next to my bedroom, with the shower and extractor in the corner behind my bed. This hasn't been a problem previously (I've been here just over 2 years) but I'm now getting consistently woken up 4 or 5 nights a week at 1-2am by the neighbours showering. I can hear the fan, the shower itself, and often a good deal of singing, slamming the door etc. Their washing machine is also in the bathroom which can sometimes be very loud, but this happens less frequently. This has been going on for about 2 months. 
I am looking to move for many reasons, but haven't found a property yet and coronavirus has impacted my finances which leaves me with a more limited budgets and options than I would like. I also can't move the bed due to the layout and dimensions of the room, and whilst previously I've been sleeping in ear plugs every night I now can't thanks to a very chronic ear infection and it being against doctor's orders. They're all students and none of them seem to work, so I can't think of a reason for them to be showering so late at night - if say, we lived nextdoor to someone working shifts it would be more understandable. 
We have previously spoken to the neighbours about the noise they make and asked them not to run up and down the stairs, slam doors etc late at night, and have previously had the council's noise team out when they've had a party or just suddenly decided to start blasting music at 3am, so they know they're being disruptive and we can hear them. None of this has ever made a difference and in some cases has just seemed to spur them on.
Can I report this to the council as a noise disturbance? When I've previously looked into it they've suggested it's 'daytime domestic noise' which it clearly isn't, but also isn't something I'd be able to call the out of hours night time team about, so seems like a bit of a grey area. Whilst I'm aware with any luck I'll only have to put up with it for another couple of months its getting to a point where it's really disrupting my sleep pattern and affecting me quite a lot, I often struggle to get back to sleep afterwards and now rarely get more than 6 hours a night. 

If they're students, they should all be moving out soon as it'll be end of semester/term in a couple of months. (Haven't they been locked down?)

But yes, I'd definitely complain to the council because they will have the landlord's details and can get on to whoever that is. They'll probably ask you to keep a diary though and will take their own sweet time doing anything about it. That's what they did when I had the neighbours from hell. (I moved, as I see you are intending doing. 

I'd also, as someone else suggested, contact the university's accommodation office to let them know that their students are a nuisance and even though they've been asked to tone things down, they continue to ignore your pleas. 

MalMonroe

buythedip said:

The other stuff you note is grim but it’s hard to be too irritated with somebody showering (they could be shift workers etc.). I resorted to wearing earphones and playing white noise under similar circumstances. 

You obviously haven't read the post properly. OP said it's students - not shift workers - who live there and they don't have to have showers in the small hours. If you do read the post you will be aware that there are lots of other noise issues, too.

The OP also said that because of chronic ear infections they cannot use headphones/earplugs. It's not ideal to have to sleep in headphones either, just because the neighbours are oblivious and thoughtless. 

theoretica

Can you camp out in a different room to get a few better nights of sleep?

wannabe_a_saver

MalMonroe said:

buythedip said:

The other stuff you note is grim but it’s hard to be too irritated with somebody showering (they could be shift workers etc.). I resorted to wearing earphones and playing white noise under similar circumstances. 

You obviously haven't read the post properly. OP said it's students - not shift workers - who live there 

The two are not mutually exclusive. 

LittleMax

Unfortunately moving is your only long term solution.  Even if you raise a complaint with landlord or Council and they manage to get these tenants to be more responsible, in October, a new lot will move in, and so it begins again.  

george4064

MalMonroe said:

buythedip said:

The other stuff you note is grim but it’s hard to be too irritated with somebody showering (they could be shift workers etc.). I resorted to wearing earphones and playing white noise under similar circumstances. 

You obviously haven't read the post properly. OP said it's students - not shift workers - who live there and they don't have to have showers in the small hours. If you do read the post you will be aware that there are lots of other noise issues, too.

The OP also said that because of chronic ear infections they cannot use headphones/earplugs. It's not ideal to have to sleep in headphones either, just because the neighbours are oblivious and thoughtless. 

To be fair, just because the OP knows (or suspects) that the neighbours are students, that doesn’t rule them out of any shift work though. Plenty of students that do shift work, whether it’s at a hospital, supermarket or whatever.

lookstraightahead

I always have a shower before I go to bed, sometimes 10pm, sometimes 2am.

life, work and study is not day and night anymore, it's 24 hours. My husband does shifts and he gets in from work at 9am - just in time for everyone to make a noise/do their gardens etc. Nothing I can do.

[Deleted User]

After many months of my neighbour showering at 1am, I had to go around and ask her to close the curtains.

letsbetfair

I can't see the council treating showering as unacceptable noise. If there's poor noise insulation, that's not the neighbours' fault. You can ask them nicely to stop showering late or do so more quietly - and hopefully they'll be considerate - but I can't see anyone enforcing it

davidmcn

wannabe_a_saver said:

MalMonroe said:

buythedip said:

The other stuff you note is grim but it’s hard to be too irritated with somebody showering (they could be shift workers etc.). I resorted to wearing earphones and playing white noise under similar circumstances. 

You obviously haven't read the post properly. OP said it's students - not shift workers - who live there 

The two are not mutually exclusive. 

Indeed - if you have, say, an evening job flipping burgers, you'll want to wash the grease away before going to bed.