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sjb123
Posts: 14 Forumite
Hi all,
My wife and I bought our flat last year and, although we like it, the noise from the flat upstairs is starting to stress me out.
They were fairly noisy when we first moved in so I spoke to them and they turned down their TV/music at night but we can still hear noise, although these days it is much more everyday noise.
I know they have laminate floor from seeing it and hearing every footstep or every time something is dropped. This continual noise is gradually becoming more and more irritating, although it really gets annoying when either of us are stressed and cant really have proper silence in our own home.
Laminate flooring is clearly prohibited by the terms of the lease agreement (cant add photo as I am a new user) - a copy of which is posted on the noticeboard in the communal hallway for all to see.
Now, my concern is what action to take. I have spoken anonymously to the management company by phone, who advised me that they can oblige my neighbour to put carpet down, however it would likely be obvious it is from me as the flat above is on the top floor and their only other neighbours are separated from the m by the communal hallway.
On the flipside, if I go up and ask them to change their flooring back to carpet, I dont think that will fly - I cant imagine many people agreeing to that from a polite request from a neighbour. And it will obviously be from me if a request then later comes from the management company.
I have been suggested to ask them whether they would consider putting rugs down but I am not convinced this would make enough of a difference and dont really want to ask someone to do something only for that change to have very little effect.
The final point is that the owner upstairs (it is him plus a long term lodger) is the only stable neighbour as all other properties around are rented out. I imagine just about any of the stronger courses of action, which would be best for us, may well !!!! him off and sour relations between us.
Any thoughts on best course of action would be welcome!!
Cheers
My wife and I bought our flat last year and, although we like it, the noise from the flat upstairs is starting to stress me out.
They were fairly noisy when we first moved in so I spoke to them and they turned down their TV/music at night but we can still hear noise, although these days it is much more everyday noise.
I know they have laminate floor from seeing it and hearing every footstep or every time something is dropped. This continual noise is gradually becoming more and more irritating, although it really gets annoying when either of us are stressed and cant really have proper silence in our own home.
Laminate flooring is clearly prohibited by the terms of the lease agreement (cant add photo as I am a new user) - a copy of which is posted on the noticeboard in the communal hallway for all to see.
Now, my concern is what action to take. I have spoken anonymously to the management company by phone, who advised me that they can oblige my neighbour to put carpet down, however it would likely be obvious it is from me as the flat above is on the top floor and their only other neighbours are separated from the m by the communal hallway.
On the flipside, if I go up and ask them to change their flooring back to carpet, I dont think that will fly - I cant imagine many people agreeing to that from a polite request from a neighbour. And it will obviously be from me if a request then later comes from the management company.
I have been suggested to ask them whether they would consider putting rugs down but I am not convinced this would make enough of a difference and dont really want to ask someone to do something only for that change to have very little effect.
The final point is that the owner upstairs (it is him plus a long term lodger) is the only stable neighbour as all other properties around are rented out. I imagine just about any of the stronger courses of action, which would be best for us, may well !!!! him off and sour relations between us.
Any thoughts on best course of action would be welcome!!
Cheers
0
Comments
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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You need to contact the freeholder/ManCo and ask them to enforce the lease clause.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If you delay its possible you may be accused of 'accepting' the noise as 'normal'.[/FONT]0 -
Talk to the neighbour, point out the noise issue and that laminate flooring is a breach of the lease. Confirm same in writing. Give them say a month to comply. Then make a formal complaint to the management co. asking them to enforce the lease..
That way they will have had the opportunity to comply, and can't complain should you have to involve the mgt co.
If you think this will sour relations, then you may be right, but the alternative is to live with the noise.No free lunch, and no free laptop
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As has been said, speak to the freeholder. But also check your own lease, some contain mutual enforceability covenants. These allow you to either compel the freeholder to act or in some cases, take action against another leaseholder yourself.
You!!!8217;ll also need to check your neighbours lease as well to ensure that they are actually in breach of it. The leases may not be identical so they may not have a clause in theirs regarding floor coverings etc.0 -
If you want "silence" then perhaps you need to live in a detached house...
Obviously you will end up having to declare this dispute when you sell, and they are going to hate you once you cause them to have to spend thousands on carpet.
If I were them I would put down the thinnest carpet possible and then make as much noise as possible going forward...0 -
Best to just go and knock on their door and explain the problem, see how it goes. They might just put a rug down.0
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Do you have legal cover with your insurance?
Getting lawyers involved should really be the very, very last resort.
Having to disclose to any future buyer "I had to instruct a solicitor because of the noise from my upstairs neighbours" could seriously alarm buyers, and make the flat virtually unsaleable.
Ideally, this should be resolved by informal discussion, rather than any kind of formal dispute.0 -
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You need to contact the freeholder/ManCo and ask them to enforce the lease clause.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If you delay its possible you may be accused of 'accepting' the noise as 'normal'.[/FONT]
Thanks for this response. As for your answer, I don't know about being told I've put up with the noise for a while so "it is fine" since the leasehold agreement clearly states that anything other than a carpet is "not an acoustic equivalent".
As such, I'm pretty sure he's put down the laminate floor without permission (never a good look) and I can't see the management company defending his decision to break the agreement they have set because we have put up with it for a while.
Cheers0
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