First time renter - Flight path troubles

Dustyevsky

Titus_Wadd said:

Mr Wadd lived at the end of a runway when we first met; across the road was the chain-link fence of the airport.  I was horrified by the noise at first but did begin to notice it less fairly quickly even without earplugs. 

In my youth, I frequented a music venue in London where the main act would end at around 03.00. The less recognised of the music scene would then have their chance, but like many others, I'd curl up in the lee of the stage in a sleeping bag and get in a few hours with hundreds of watts pumping out above me. It can't have been very satisfying for the musicians, but a lot of us struggled to do an all-nighter and I never had any bother after that sleeping in noisy situations!

GaleSF63

JaniceUK said:

How about a good thick door curtain? They are surprisingly effective at blocking noise and you can hang it from an expanding shower pole, so no need for any drilling or damage to the property. 

A good thick door curtain would be a good idea but I think it would pull an expanding shower pole down very quickly. Perhaps though the landlord would be willing to fit a proper curtain pole?

Spinybif

Check the door and window seals.  Very often there are gaps around the windows / doors which let sound in a burning candle will show any draughts.   Screwfix or Toolstation sell expanding foam strip very cheaply - just check you get the right thickness.

pinkshoes

I moved into a house with a railway line about 100 m behind it. All through the night the line was used every 30 to 60 minutes for freight trains that screeched.

I HATED it, as I have always suffered insomnia, difficulty getting to sleep, then difficulty staying asleep. I used earplugs, white noise, and audiobooks. Pillows on my head. Going jogging to make myself physically knackered!

After about 6 months, I realised I'd stopped hearing it! I don't know when I got used to the noise, but I just didn't notice the trains any more. 

I guess life got busy, I got tired, and I just got used to it!

Murphybear

I live not far from Yeovil which has one of the biggest helicopter manufacturers in Europe. Almost next door them is RNAS Yeovilton which has a lot of helicopters.  We hear them all time including the night.  I’ve been there 5 years now and was thinking they had stopped flying but I had only got used to them.

I’m a bit weird though, I love aeroplanes and helicopters (I used to fly gliders but they quite  a lot quieter  )

Mutton_Geoff

Momanns said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice please. I recently started renting a property having separated from my partner (we are currently selling this house). I'm in the South East and securing a rental was ridiculously hard work. Some properties I viewed had 20/25 viewing booked in after a day of listing.

I found a property which ticked all my boxes, it's an annexe that was originally used as a garage and was upgraded to a rental property in the last few years. Through my haste/naivety I hadn't realised the property is right under a flight path. It's a good 20 minutes from the airport but the planes seeming take off and fly straight overhead. 

The biggest problem is there is a cottage style door in the bedroom which is ill-fitted at best. Even then, being an annexe it probably isn't as well insulated & sound proofed as a house. 

I have since found out that the previous tenant lasted less than a month due to the noise. As you can imagine, sleeping is particularly difficult given the flights run regularly until (I think) 11:30 and then start again around 5:30/6. I approached the letting agent about the door but seemingly the landlord is fed up with having to re-let as people appear to have come and gone. I would guess this has happened more than once.

Having not rented before, I am not sure of my options. I want to ask about the door in particular but ultimately also whether this would be grounds to terminate a rental early (I suspect not). There was no mention of the flight path on the listing and the previous tenant(s) leaving so soon wasn't mentioned at any point. I only found out from the people who rent the main house.

I have tried a white noise machine, sleeping on the sofa and all sorts. Really just want to know if I have a leg to stand on if the landlord isn't prepared to help with the door, soundproofing or early termination of the 12 month AST.

Thank you in advance.

How recently? Are you talking about Heathrow (which has a night jet ban between 11.30 and 6am. If you have been there less than a week, the wind has been predominantly easterly so you will be getting a lot more noise than normal if you are to the east of Heathrow.

Always worth looking at the arrival and departure paths when choosing somewhere near a busy airport. Most of the expensive bits of London sit under a noisy flight path.

https://www.heathrow.com/company/local-community/noise/operations/departure-flight-paths

Dustyevsky

Murphybear said:

I live not far from Yeovil which has one of the biggest helicopter manufacturers in Europe. Almost next door them is RNAS Yeovilton which has a lot of helicopters.  We hear them all time including the night.  I’ve been there 5 years now and was thinking they had stopped flying but I had only got used to them.

I’m a bit weird though, I love aeroplanes and helicopters (I used to fly gliders but they quite  a lot quieter  )

The annoying thing about the helicopters is that training seems to involve a lot of daytime hovering. We did due diligence on a property in that area. The neighbours were fine, but the choppers weren't!

Murphybear

Dustyevsky said:

Murphybear said:

I live not far from Yeovil which has one of the biggest helicopter manufacturers in Europe. Almost next door them is RNAS Yeovilton which has a lot of helicopters.  We hear them all time including the night.  I’ve been there 5 years now and was thinking they had stopped flying but I had only got used to them.

I’m a bit weird though, I love aeroplanes and helicopters (I used to fly gliders but they quite  a lot quieter  )

The annoying thing about the helicopters is that training seems to involve a lot of daytime hovering. We did due diligence on a property in that area. The neighbours were fine, but the choppers weren't!

Ive never found the helicopters as noisy as the planes.  I used to live in SW London and Concorde flew directly above us.  It was a lovely sight and not particularly noisy.  Lots of people went outside to gaze at it 

Dustyevsky

Murphybear said:

Dustyevsky said:

Murphybear said:

I live not far from Yeovil which has one of the biggest helicopter manufacturers in Europe. Almost next door them is RNAS Yeovilton which has a lot of helicopters.  We hear them all time including the night.  I’ve been there 5 years now and was thinking they had stopped flying but I had only got used to them.

I’m a bit weird though, I love aeroplanes and helicopters (I used to fly gliders but they quite  a lot quieter  )

The annoying thing about the helicopters is that training seems to involve a lot of daytime hovering. We did due diligence on a property in that area. The neighbours were fine, but the choppers weren't!

Ive never found the helicopters as noisy as the planes.  I used to live in SW London and Concorde flew directly above us.  It was a lovely sight and not particularly noisy.  Lots of people went outside to gaze at it 

I think the city and suburbia's different from the country. You don't buy in a rural area to be hovered over by a glorified drone!

Momanns

I had seen the ban from 11:30-6 but on Tuesday night the planes continued until well after midnight (assuming delayed arrival or something)!

I'm hopeful I will get used to it, however the plan is that this rental is a stop gap for 6-12 months before I can buy again once our joint property has sold so would be nice to get some decent sleep before then