Can a lower flat siphon water/electricity from an upper flat?

ShBr

I live on the top floor (Ground-2 levels) of a purpose built flat.
The residents beneath my flat have been hostile for many years, including using a deafening high pitch sound, drilling their ceiling that shook my floor in a very concerning way. They demonstrate that they tamper with their water pipes to create a type of water hammer to reverberate through the property.
Electricity:
Of late, the residents beneath have made it clear that whenever I plug in a device to charge (Yes, they can hear when something is being plugged in), they rush to position themselves directly underneath. if a light is on it flickers a lot (the bulb has been replaced). The device takes longer to charge.
Water: 
Water pipe creak happens when I am not using my water. 
When the residents beneath expects that I am about to shower they rush to an area of their flat and a chugging sound can be heard through my water pipes, with the water struggling to come out of the taps.
I was advised to close the hot water tank, which resulted in warm water coming out of my cold taps for a short period, until the residents beneath frantically move something and cold water comes though. 
These issues happen exclusively when the residents/mates are in the property.
So, I would like to know if someone with no scruples would be able to piggy back/siphon my facilities? If yes, please private message me or post here how?
And what can be done to prevent this from happening, as I am a single parent just surviving in this cost of living crisis like others.
Any insights would be helpful as plumbing and electrical are not my area of expertise.

DullGreyGuy

No idea what half your accusations are but that aside...

Do you have your own water meter? All the flats I've been in have a block meter not individual unit ones so someone "syphoning water" inside the block would make no difference at all.

For both your accusations of theft its easy enough to turn everything off and then go look at the meter (electricity and water if you have your own) to see if there is any draw with absolutely everything off/unplugged or not.

tacpot12

There is nothing that your neighbour can do to stop your lights or chargers getting the electrical power they need to work. You are imagining it if you think that devices are taking longer to charge. Your neighbours might be able to shut off the power, but they cannot do anything to use up all the available power - if they did so, the main fuse would blow and both flats would be in darnkess. So we can be sure that this is not happending. 

There are too many different ways of generating hot water to give you any useful advice, so I would advise that you engage a plumber to explain how your flat gets hot water, and check whether any of supply of hot or cold water to your flat comes through another flat. In my experience it is very unlikely to pass through another flat if the flat was purpose built, but might do so if the flat is a conversion from a house.

Your landlord might arrange for the plumbing to be changed so that the neighbours cannot interfer with the supplies to your flat IF there is any posibility that they could be interfering.  

Jonboy_1984

Nothing inside our old ground floor flat, but immediately outside our front door, inside the communal foyer,  was a small hatch with isolation taps for both the flats above water supplies. Could have easily turned them down or off if so inclined…


How are phone charging cables plugged in, via a dedicated phone charger or a USB lead into a USB plug socket/extension cable? If a dedicated phone charger the phone can send a signal to say “I can accept a faster current than the USB standards allow, please fast charge”. If a generic USB port it will not have this functionality (difference is around 5 hours on my phone)

macman

Are both flats separately metered for water and electricity?

lohr500

As above.

If you think they have tapped into your electricity supply in some way, make sure you switch off switch off ALL your electricity appliances and then see if the electricity meter is still clocking up usage.
Don't use the fuse box/consumer unit to switch everything off as this would also cut off any supply they may have tapped into. You would need to go around the flat and switch off every plugged in appliance and any other equipment connected by wall mounted switches (eg oven, water heater, etc).

If the meter is still registering usage and you are 100% sure you have switched everything off then I guess it could be possible that they have tapped into your supply in some way.

If the meter isn't registering any use after you have switched everything off, then move around as you describe when they are in the flat below and plug something in that isn't going to use any electricity (like a table lamp with its own switch) so they hear it. Check the meter again and see if it starts recording usage.