House value < Nuisance Neighbour

nopersonallyidentifiableinformation

Hi all, 

Had to recreate my account as I realised after a few years that having my name in it wasn't advisable... oops!

I'm hoping to get some ideas and knowledge together to help with a situation... for a friend. 

This friend bought a house and their new neighbour said "thank goodness you're here, the old guy that used to live here used to bang on my walls all the time". 

Thinking they had a nice neighbour they continued about their life until the very same neighbour started banging on their wall. 

Thinking it odd they went round to enquire if the old lady needed any assistance. 
The lady apologised and said that, "sometimes they have a turn, and can't help it".
Perplexed but reassured they returned home. 
The banging continued the following days, and weeks... all while the new homeowner was at home minding their own business, on the couch, in bed - even once on the toilet. 
Every so often when the newbie could muster the courage, they'd knock next door to enquire... seemingly frustrating the old lady - she was so sure it was she who was righting a wrong, whereby the new person was the noisemaker. 
This couldn't be, they thought... they're so sensitive to noise, often they're told to speak up because they're so quiet. Distraught, they thought, finding themselves between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. Flummoxed. 

The new owner's partner enquired - but was told to eff off.... 
Charming. 

Worried that the value of the house would decrease if a neighbourly dispute was filed, the new couple tried to use it as a test of endurance. 

A few weeks go by and the new guy has an idea. While the lady is having a banging session, he'll invite himself over for tea, to prove it's not him, or maybe even to hear it from the other adjoining wall on the other side... 
They had a nice, civil, hour-long chat. He offered to fix lots of ailing fittings that were pointed out. He put up with all the xenophobia, but as soon as he returned home the banging started again. He did notice a hole in the wall above the couch, where the lady must have been banging for years. 

Anyway the current chapter of the story is that today WE were served with a noise complaint from the council. 
Now we have no escape, the value of our house is decreased. 
What to do?

born_again

nopersonallyidentifiableinformation said:

Hi all, 

Had to recreate my account as I realised after a few years that having my name in it wasn't advisable... oops!

I'm hoping to get some ideas and knowledge together to help with a situation... for a friend. 

This friend bought a house and their new neighbour said "thank goodness you're here, the old guy that used to live here used to bang on my walls all the time". 

Thinking they had a nice neighbour they continued about their life until the very same neighbour started banging on their wall. 

Thinking it odd they went round to enquire if the old lady needed any assistance. 
The lady apologised and said that, "sometimes they have a turn, and can't help it".
Perplexed but reassured they returned home. 
The banging continued the following days, and weeks... all while the new homeowner was at home minding their own business, on the couch, in bed - even once on the toilet. 
Every so often when the newbie could muster the courage, they'd knock next door to enquire... seemingly frustrating the old lady - she was so sure it was she who was righting a wrong, whereby the new person was the noisemaker. 
This couldn't be, they thought... they're so sensitive to noise, often they're told to speak up because they're so quiet. Distraught, they thought, finding themselves between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. Flummoxed. 

The new owner's partner enquired - but was told to eff off.... 
Charming. 

Worried that the value of the house would decrease if a neighbourly dispute was filed, the new couple tried to use it as a test of endurance. 

A few weeks go by and the new guy has an idea. While the lady is having a banging session, he'll invite himself over for tea, to prove it's not him, or maybe even to hear it from the other adjoining wall on the other side... 
They had a nice, civil, hour-long chat. He offered to fix lots of ailing fittings that were pointed out. He put up with all the xenophobia, but as soon as he returned home the banging started again. He did notice a hole in the wall above the couch, where the lady must have been banging for years. 

Anyway the current chapter of the story is that today WE were served with a noise complaint from the council. 
Now we have no escape, the value of our house is decreased. 
What to do?

Invite council round to hear the knocking. Raise the issue with them, that it is not you (We & friend do not go hand in hand)
Keep a log of all times it happens

EssexHebridean

You might also video (with sound) when the banging happens - by taking the phone closer to the source of the banging it should be evident where it is coming from, and you can use the video to show that the two of you are clearly not taking any part in creating the noise. 

user1977

nopersonallyidentifiableinformation said:

Worried that the value of the house would decrease if a neighbourly dispute was filed...

Anyway the current chapter of the story is that today WE were served with a noise complaint from the council. 
Now we have no escape, the value of our house is decreased. 

It was already something which would have to be declared in answer to the relevant enquiry...

What's the concern about the current value? Are they planning to sell? If not, are they planning to sell before the neighbour...ceases being able to bang, for whatever reason?

eddddy

Just to make sure - are you sure that the banging isn't caused by something else? The obvious possibility would be water pipes. For example, does the mains water pipe(s) come into the property near the party wall where the banging is heard?

And so the water pipes start banging, the neighbour thinks that you are doing the banging - so bangs back on the wall.  So you hear the banging of the pipes plus the neighbour's banging on the wall.


You mention the banging starting one time when somebody was in the toilet. The toilet valve closing following a flush, or turning off the sink taps could cause a water hammer, which could produce a loud bang further down the pipes.


Or if the neighbour is hard of hearing (especially if it's in only one ear), they might find it difficult to detect which direction the banging is coming from,  So they might be hearing banging, but it's coming from some other source..


Or maybe you've already investigated these types of possibilities already...

Bigphil1474

OP, don't know where you live, but when I worked in the noise nuisance team, if we got a complaint we'd send a standard letter out to the alleged perpetrator explaining there'd been a complaint and the consequences etc.. They were crap letters but the idea was to try and nip it in the bud without putting too many peoples noses out of joint. 99% of the time the letter was sent without any evidence of there being any noise issue.

The letter you have received would normally have someone's contact details or a team email address to get back to them - I would contact them and explain the situation. I have investigated similar complaints in the past. Obviously, the council's job is to consider both sides. They may just close the case or put it down to a neighbour dispute, or they might get the neighbour some help, but they won't do anything to you without any evidence of you causing a nuisance.

Myci85

You mention that the lady next door is elderly, is there a chance she has dementia? My grandma in her later years would constantly complain about her neighbours talking and shouting loudly, yet when my uncle went round there was no noise at all coming from next door. My grandma wouldn't have it though when he told her. I wonder if your neighbour is 'hearing' similar and knocking to get you to be quiet. 

Does she have any family visit that you can have a quiet chat to about it?

newsgroupmonkey_

Myci85 said:

You mention that the lady next door is elderly, is there a chance she has dementia? My grandma in her later years would constantly complain about her neighbours talking and shouting loudly, yet when my uncle went round there was no noise at all coming from next door. My grandma wouldn't have it though when he told her. I wonder if your neighbour is 'hearing' similar and knocking to get you to be quiet. 

Does she have any family visit that you can have a quiet chat to about it?

It's a good shout. Whilst I'm a Mental Health First Aider, we don't really get involved in Dementia and old age - generally it's aimed at people in our workplace and so on.

So whilst I thought I'm a man of the world, as a bungalow dweller, I live in a village with a considerable number of oldiewonks (careful - I'm becoming one myself). They're great and I love the people in my street. We all look out for each other and I know them all by name.

However, a lady from the next street over who I didn't recognise was sat at the bus stop waiting for a bus.
Another lady pulled in to nip into the corner shop over the road. Naughty, yes. But hardly the end of the world. She left her (i'd say) 13-14 year old daughter in the passenger seat.

I have never seen anything like it. This lady jumped up, knocked on the window. The girl pulled the window down and frankly, I've never heard such words come from an old ladies' mouth. She was effing and jeffing, screaming at this young girl about how she needed to take responsibility for her life, that she was a !!!!!! and all kinds of horrible things. Within seconds, this girl locked the door and put the window back up. The old lady just continued to eff and jeff until the driver returned (and we're talking perhaps 1-2 minutes max). They drove off, ignoring her.

I walked over to the old lady and calmed her down. Within minutes, she had absolutely no idea she'd been swearing at this girl and was telling me how she was getting the bus into town as she was courting a young man.

Everyone thinks that Dementia is just forgetfulness and not recognising people. I had absolutely no idea about the aggressive nature it can bring. I've become much more aware of how older people can react.

FlorayG

Dementia - even early on - can make you imagine things that aren't happening. People forget that it's a brain disease not a mental health issue. I remember a radio interview with a lady who had just developed it, she was perfectly coherent but her family said things would happen such as she would call them and say someone had stolen the garden shed because she could not see it ( it's your brain that SEES things, not your eyes) then next morning it would 'return' so it sounds to me like the neighbour may be suffering likewise. You have to admit its weird to bang on the walls and blame the neighbour for it. And, of course, difficult to get a person in denial to get tested.

Herzlos

eddddy said:

And so the water pipes start banging, the neighbour thinks that you are doing the banging - so bangs back on the wall.  So you hear the banging of the pipes plus the neighbour's banging on the wall.

We had exactly that. Neighbour would start banging on the wall whenever her central heating kicked in.

I'd echo the idea of recording a video when these incidents happen to show your side of the wall, and log the times/durations to see if you can figure out a pattern.