To think having people live above you is awful

I can't afford a house and only going for top floor flats is limiting.

Unfortunately OP, this is precisely what I did, accepting that my choices would be more limited and it might take longer to find a place.

Not for all the tea in China would I ever buy a flat below anyone again. The hell of living below a Scottish BTL tenement flat with stripped floorboards for ten years cannot be borne again. I'd end up doing 20 to life for murder.

I’ve lived with people above me (and on either side of me) for many years. It never bothers me very much. From your OP, you are “sensitive” to noise and have been bothered a lot by it in the past. Based on that, I think this is not a good idea for you.

I could never have anyone above me again. But sounds like your used to it and have your heart set on the flat?

Also @LakieLady thats a hilarious description!

We’re in an upstairs flat and often on edge because downstairs neighbour is super sensitive to noise and has complained about the kids ‘thumping and jumping’. It’s ordinary family noise, shoes off, carpets throughout with extra insulation, no running or jumping indoors… I think she’s really lucky to have us and she’s just pushing it.
so I think it really depends on how sensitive you are to noise?? And how relaxed you are with neighbours?

In the '80s, I lived in a flat where the soundproofing was so poor that if I and the upstairs neighbour didn't have music or the tv on, I could tell when they were eating their dinner by the sound of the cutlery hitting their plates.

The bit in the bathroom where the pipes were all boxed in seemed to work like a speaker cabinet. You could hear people farting and shitting on all 8 floors of the block, ffs, and in the morning when everyone was showering, it sounded like Niagara Falls. Shagging had to be carried out in utter silence and the sound of voices travelled so well that I felt that I couldn't speak freely in my own home.

I was mighty relieved when my tenancy was up and I moved out, into a big ground floor converted flat. It was much quieter.

Can you get a sense of likely noise? My mum is in a new build and no noise whatsoever

We once had a neighbour living in the flat below ours who was so sensitive to noise she resented every time someone came into our house wearing shoes.
The floors were wood and though we had a couple of rugs, there was nothing in the lease requiring to fully carpet and we would never have done that anyway because it gathers dust and moths.
She complained so frequently about normal levels of noise (ie people walking around in their socks between the hours of 7am and 8pm, bedrooms were a further floor up so never any night noise) we ended up moving out, she was the biggest pain in the a**.
But we heard from other neighbours that the family that came after us had three extremely active boys… so she was served a portion of karma I believe.

All this just to say that you never have control over who chooses to live above you and if you feel the noise could poison your existence then don’t do it!

Its the people below me that are the noisy pricks, don't know why I bother trying to keep quiet.

So tempted to strip out my thick carpets and underlay, replace with wooden floors, start wearing clompy shoes and get a little yappy dog and throw footballs round my house all day.

We've always loved in flats, as does everyone I know in my city. Not saying people don't have neighbour issues from time to time, but many people don't have the choice to live anywhere else.
Actually I did live in a top floor flat once so no upstairs neighbours, but it was a nightmare for insulation - very cold in winter, very hot in summer.
Now we live on the first floor. Our downstairs neighbour has been known to have weekend long techno parties, but then again we have young children and my husband is a musician, so on balance we're probably about even with noise disturbance! Sometimes we hear our upstairs neighbour walking around but it never bothered me to be honest.

Never had good experiences living with others above me. Best thing I did was to go for a detached.

I live in the ground floor on a converted Victorian house. My neighbour upstairs is very respectful, but he’s a heavy footed older gentleman. His bedroom is above mine. I can hear his every move - I hear him turning over in bed.
It’s bearable, but I can’t go to sleep until he goes to sleep basically. I’ve had to adjust my life around him - I go to the gym in the evening rather than getting up early to go.

My previous neighbour I never heard at all, but she was a very petite lady.

The problem with a Victorian conversion is the sound can resonate in the chimneybreasts and it's hard to decouple that / those.

We had awful neighbours upstairs flat. They were deaf so shouted at each other. Their son wax a nightmare. Thumping around.
Now we have a detached place. It's bloody bliss.

If it's a Victorian property I imagine the ceilings will be pretty high if you need to install sound insulation.

I live in an apartment with people above, below and on both sides of me. Most of the time I'm barely aware of their existence. In terms of noise it's no different than living in a house. But I guess I've been lucky.

Warning OP Every time the fire regs change you wll have to pay for a new fire front door.

I'm sorry, no. Why would you pay good money to be tortured? Unless the flats are purpose built with excellent soundproofing to music studio standard, there's no way I'd do this.

Op your post really made me think back to over my life. I grew up in a ground floor council flat and I don't remember ever hearing the neighbours above us. Then I moved into a purpose-built block, again I don't remember ever hearing the neighbours above us there either.

The first property I bought of my own was a ground floor flat with a flat above it. Again I don't recall ever hearing a single thing. Maybe it's because they were all purpose built and yours is a conversion?

Most of my life I've lived in flats with people above me, and I haven't found it a problem at all. We had a young family above us and we lived there for ten years, they ran around a lot and dropped toys but it didn't bother me at all. I think certain people are sensitive to it and can't cope with it though. Maybe it's because I grew up in a flat so I've always been used to it. Most of the flats have been in apartment blocks with concrete floors, which is better than house conversions I think. I live in a Victorian house now and I can really hear my dcs when they run around upstairs in a way I never could in a block of flats.

The first place I owned was a ground floor flat, new build, only one upstairs neighbour, the other flat was above the bin sheds and one next door to me. They were either very well soundproofed or I was lucky, I had no issues with noise. Having said that I used to sleep very soundly before I had DC! I am a very light sleeper now. We live in a house now and sometimes the foxes wake me up even with earplugs.

IME conversions are noisier than purpose built, but with neighbours it's luck of the draw

I’m an upstairs neighbour and like to think that I’m pretty considerate. No shoes indoors, lots of rugs on the wooden floor, I don’t play loud music or have the volume on my tv on too high. If I need to do something noisy like move furniture then I text my neighbour and let him know first. The washing machine doesn’t go on until late morning. Basic good manners.

My previous downstairs neighbours would come back from the pub absolutely plastered, put music on really loud until 3-4am, smoke in the entrance hall and have endless screaming matches so it doesn’t always follow that a downstairs flat is noisier.

It really does work if done properly. We've done it (not a flat but an ancient cottage with a crappy floor upstairs) and it's a massive improvement. Not cheap, but if its your home and you've got yourself a good deal, I'd seriously consider it. Sounds like a great flat!