Noisy Neighbours

[Guest]

Hi all, just needed to have (yet another!) little moan !

 

I live in a small block of flats, there are 22 in total and we are on the ground floor. This is great on shopping days as I don't have to struggle up the stairs with the shopping, the buggy and a mischevious two year old.

 

A couple of weeks ago, the woman upstairs returned to her flat. She had been gone for ages and it was nice not hearing her banging across the floor as she walked. She is very heavy footed. This particular night, however, she was having a screaming argument with her boyfriend which sounded so loud and violent, the police were called. They were obviously fighting physically and I could hear them both threatening to kill each other .I didn't call the police, as much as I wanted to, but I was sure glad when they turned up. After that, my neighbours were soooo quiet, it was as if new people had moved in!

 

Today, however, I am close to breaking point. She has a penchant for extremely loud music and at 7:30 this morning, her music was so loud, it not only woke the baby and I up, but it could be heard word for word. I'm not adverse to a bit of loud music myself, especially when I am cleaning the entire house, but at 7:30 in the morning, I thought it was a bit much.

 

Unfortunately, she is not the kind of woman that you could approach and ask nicely to turn the music down. She gets really stroppy and slams the door in your face and swears and curses behind the door, so you can hear what she thinks of you.

 

I was thinking of contacting the housing association and complaining about the noise levels, although I'm not usually one to complain. I know that there is not much during the day that I can do about the music, but I just can't get over the selfishness of someone cranking their stereo up full blast that early in the morning. Normally I would be at work, but I have a day off today, so it wouldn't bother me. I have been keeping a diary of the noise etc, as I will no doubt be advised to do, so at least I have that little bit of evidence to work in my favour. It wouldn't be so bad if the weather would cool down a little bit, so at least we could all sleep at night !

 

What do you all think?

[SmileyPR]

Certainly enough there is a reason to complain. Even if she heard 'loud' music during later hours, there should be a maximal of decibels permitted. If that is exceeded, then she is causing noise pollution. Check out if there is any type of organisation that deals with this. Best wishes!

[hali]

Hi,

 

keep a diary as you have been advised already and contact your housing association, they will be able to help.

[bubblejack]

Clare you can also contact your local council offices there is a dept. that deals with this.

[Guest]

That's a good idea Bubblejack. I never thought of that! It seems to have finally quietened down now though. I will do as Hali has said and keep the diary going and see what happens from there. Thanks for all your advice guys!

[Guest]

I can empathise with you completely. My adjoining neighbours are not the quietest. They both drink a lot and I mean a lot and every day, they have both been married three times and they argue - sometimes at 3.00 in the morning and wake me up. They go through stages and it really is horrid. It's hard to know what to do. I certainly wouldn't want to approach them when they are going for it and yet what do you do. Of course I could ring the police but it would be fairly obvious who had called them as there are only four houses in my road and the others are too far away to hear and I am not too sure what the repercussions would be. It did come to a head the other day when she came in in tears asking for me to phone for a taxii, he apparently hides the phone. I thought it was going to be for an ambulance as she had red stuff all down her jumper - but it was the wine he had thrown over her!! She did apologise profusely and say that they must be the neighbours from hell and that she had wanted to talk to me sooner. I calmly explained that it was not in anyones interest for this to continue, not hers, his, mine or my children who have to listen to this and she must take positive steps to solve this problem. They have been quiet for a month now and she reckons she has got it sorted - we will wait and see. But I do know how you feel. It's all very well for people to say report them but at the end of the day when you are on your own - you do feel vunerable. Trouble is these things don;t just go away either. So all I can say is good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Nikki

[catma]

HI Clare, from memory you're in Crystal Palace I think?? Depending on which bit I know southwark have a noise dept, but I also think Lambeth, Bromley and croyden do too. Make the complaints because she may be in breach of her contract if it is housing association or phone the council who have the power to sieze equipment if the noise is deemed too much.

 

You have rights too

[SueFinanceManager]

Clare

 

Have a look at the lease agreement and see if there is anything in it about noise and the restriction of noise between certain hours of the day. Your local enviromental health might also be able to advise you about acceptable noise pollution levels.

 

Failing that earplugs and buckets full of patience, easier said than done I know

 

Sue

[Guest]

Thanks everyone. She's been quiet as a mouse today although she may have disappeared for a bit (excellent!). Catma, we are in the Bromley borough and they have a 'noise' section so I might have to look into contacting them. Well done for the memory!!