Selling flat with hellish footsteps from upstairs

Xiaolongbao

Hi,

hoping for some advice.

I bought a flat last year in Edinburgh and soon discovered that the flat upstairs has laminate hardwood flooring and whenever people are walking up there, it's a thudding, booming sound like someone is hitting the ceiling with a hammer. In addition, and likely because of their flooring, I can hear their conversations and all other airborne noises, and they can hear mine too. I consider this place unfit for human habitation as a result. 

Now I've done some research and it seems like there's not much I can do... if I complain to them upstairs then it is a 'dispute' and would have to go on the property questionnaire when I come to sell this place. I'm now in a position that seems to have two terrible outcomes:

1) I say nothing, do nothing, and sell someone else this slice of hell, legally, because there is no dispute to declare on the property questionnaire, but I feel like I am being deceptive and a crook to myself and I'm not like that.

2) I start writing letters and complaining, in the hopes that the owner of upstairs will put down sound-blocking underlay or carpet... and if they don't, I still suffer but now I lose 10's of thousands in a future sale because most potential buyers will walk away or want massive discount.

Is there a third option? Just to add, I'm private owner, there are no council properties in this tenement building.

Thank you for reading this. 

Xiaolongbao

I'll just add that I had no way of knowing before completion of sale about the issue.. it was quiet here during the visit and I was denied a second visit by the selling agency after my offer had been accepted. In hindsight that was a red flat, but regardless..

Xiaolongbao

Also after having a sound insulation engineer visit, he told me to alter my ceiling would cost upwards of 20k pounds, would only muffle the noise, and the impact sounds would still be transmitted along the upstairs neighbour's floor and down the walls into my place. The ceiling would also have to be lowered by up to 9 inches, which would again make the place unsellable as ceilings are already low. 

lucypilates

Do you have a copy of the lease that you can check whether there is a clause stating that carpeting is required for upper floors? This is quite a common clause and I actually have 1st hand experience of this: I used to own a 1st floor flat which came with laminate flooring. it was a rental property so i never live there myself. After about 10 years of ownership, the downstairs people changed and the new owners were much more sensitive to the noise and subsequently called in the council to ask me to change the flooring to carpet. It was, in fact, on the lease but had never come up before. I was obliged to change the flooring, which I did, and the downstairs people still moved out! 

So check your lease, chat with the neighbours - they may not be aware of what it sounds like to live downstairs and they may be horrified to know they're causing you a disturbance. 

If I were you, I'd speak to the upstairs neighbours about it,  see how they react when you let them know that its quite noisy and that you can hear their conversations ... how they react will inform your next step to take.

Good luck

Xiaolongbao

lucypilates said:

Do you have a copy of the lease that you can check whether there is a clause stating that carpeting is required for upper floors? This is quite a common clause and I actually have 1st hand experience of this

Lease? I'm a bit confused.. I bought this place with cash... upstairs is a short-term rental that is rented out to people via an agency in London.. any complaint I make would have to be in writing and somehow find its way to the owner.. the people upstairs change every month or so.. everyone in this building are private homeowners; no council properties here. Thanks

Xiaolongbao

i.e everyone here is freehold ownership ^

princeofpounds

This is Scotland so it's not a leasehold/freehold issue.

It sounds familiar to me - have you ever posted here before?

Tiglet2

lucypilates said:

Do you have a copy of the lease that you can check whether there is a clause stating that carpeting is required for upper floors? 

The property is in Edinburgh and I believe leasehold doesn't exist in the way it does in England and Wales - commonhold I think, but Davidmcm should be along soon with good advice.

Xiaolongbao

princeofpounds said:

This is Scotland so it's not a leasehold/freehold issue.

It sounds familiar to me - have you ever posted here before?

No I haven't, just signed up here yesterday. I think this problem is quite common in Edinburgh; the buildings are of very low quality. I believe the council already flat-out banned laminate flooring in council properties here.. but freeholders in private tenements are free to do as they please legally. 

Xiaolongbao

^ further to that, complaining to the council would do nothing as these aren't council properties, the owner upstairs is free to have whatever flooring he desires, and 'everyday living noises' are not something they would investigate anyway.. all it would achieve is having to be reported on the property questionnaire that the council was contact over a noise issue.

Xiaolongbao

I also think a lot of homeowners in Edinburgh intentionally bite-their-tongue on this particular issue... as the consequences of getting into a dispute are financially dire come sell time.. so you end up with these hellish properties being tossed around like a hot potato. It's sad that there's no legal options other than seemingly suffer; or complain and potentially lose a lot of money.