Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Hell is a terraced house with a hot tub, bar and outdoor tv.

337 replies

SorbetSarnie · 20/06/2025 23:59

Or more accurately, hell is what I'm going through living next door to this abominable set up.

Family from hell moved in not that long ago. Drunken pot smoking father who attended a house party in the mid 90's and apparently never left, a wife who to be fair seems like she's lost the will to live or smile, and an assortment of teenagers who like to invite all their mates round and shout about dildos and cumming in people's eyes.

The garden has slowly morphed into something resembling a butlins, which is fairly impressive as we all only have narrow postage stamp gardens. It started with a hot tub, progressed to an outdoor bar, and has culminated this weekend in some sort of wooden shack thing made of fences with a tin roof, housing an outdoor television.

The second the sun comes out it is thumping tunes ALL day, which to be fair sometimes gets turned down a little at 11 pm. Unfortunately tonight it has now been replaced by some shitty action movie being loudly played in the garden, as the family members converse in their usual dulcet yells. Must have affected their hearing with all that drum and bass.

Yes, we have tried talking to them. The father seemed to indicate through grunts that he had understood my attempt at communication with a primitive life form, however we were then treated to angle grinding in the street regularly for a few nights, as he loudly complained about the 'stuck up bitch next door' and proclaimed that I'd be 'having that'.

No, I currently can't move. I'm working on it but realistically not going to be any time soon. I'd imagine the house would be a hard sell at the moment too, most prospective owners would run a mile.

I guess I just wanted to rant, I'm so tired. I've actually found myself on the brink of tears a few times tonight, mainly from frustration. They went away last week and it was wonderful. The entire estate was practically silent, just the usual buzz of every day life going on made me really appreciate just what loud obnoxious bastards they are.

OP posts:
InjuryMyArse · 21/06/2025 11:30

LillyPJ · 21/06/2025 06:34

Unfortunately, I think that would just start a war you couldn't win and the neighbours would probably enjoy the battle.

Yep. Never wrestle with pigs.
Sorry, op. It must be awful.

OuterSpaceCadet · 21/06/2025 11:29

smallglassbottle · 21/06/2025 09:38

This ^

You can also buy infrasound/ultrasound devices which they won't be able to hear, but which will cause them to feel uncomfortable. Dh rigged one up aimed over the fence at loud hot tub man and they'd go inside after 10 minutes. He eventually moved.

Is that similar to fox deterrents? Younger ears can hear them and they're apparently extremely annoying. (Used to live near a house with a fox deterrent in my 20s and my partner could hear it and I (slightly older) couldn't).

LillyPJ · 21/06/2025 11:27

Theroadt · 21/06/2025 11:22

Have some empathy - the poor OP is on her knees. Easy to be liberal when you don’t have to deal with it

It's nothing to do with class though. If they were playing loud opera music, watching loud documentaries on the outdoor telly and holding posh parties out there with chaps with booming voices wearing yellow trousers and ladies in fascinators getting hysterical on champagne, it would still be upsetting and annoying.

LillyPJ · 21/06/2025 11:23

wizzywig · 21/06/2025 11:11

This all sounds rather lower class.

Amazingly, even upper class people can be inconsiderate fuckers.

Theroadt · 21/06/2025 11:22

Bepo77 · 21/06/2025 11:18

Any other classist digs you'd like to add into your post? Butlins, primitive life form, there must be more. Maybe something about universal credit?

Have some empathy - the poor OP is on her knees. Easy to be liberal when you don’t have to deal with it

Theroadt · 21/06/2025 11:20

Water your garden with a hose and very, very poor aim

Theroadt · 21/06/2025 11:19

UmberJoker · 21/06/2025 00:05

YANBU 💐 Report ASB every time and then request a case review once you’ve made 3 reports

Not if she wants to move - all has to be disclosed to buyer

Bepo77 · 21/06/2025 11:18

Any other classist digs you'd like to add into your post? Butlins, primitive life form, there must be more. Maybe something about universal credit?

GanninHyem · 21/06/2025 11:16

wizzywig · 21/06/2025 11:11

This all sounds rather lower class.

So does that comment.

MrsBJones · 21/06/2025 11:13

Sasha07 · 21/06/2025 09:05

Unfortunately, I have a similar sort except it's younger kids screaming and shouting all day, the mum screaming and shouting all day, the dad shouting when he's in, music constantly as they have a roof over their hot tub now. Atleast when they have people around, they're nicer to the kids.

A neighbour complained about something once, so they gave their kids a microphone to shout up and down the street on, before having karaoke on the backs. Unfortunately they own the house so I have absolutely no idea if anything can be done. On the rare occasion they go away, the road is silent except bird song. I absolutely despise them, as do the rest.Terrace houses should come with a clause against antisocial behaviour, you can't escape invasive sounds at all.

You can report them to the council even if they own their house, and there's a Noise App you can get for your phone to record the noise as evidence and times etc.

You shouldn't have to put up with such ignorant behaviour.

wizzywig · 21/06/2025 11:11

This all sounds rather lower class.

user1471538283 · 21/06/2025 11:07

Oh Op I'm so sorry. I went through this with my horrible ex neighbors. One side owned their house. It would be constant loud music for 10 hours a day every day and parties through a global pandemic and it nearly broke my health. You could hear the noise through closed windows.

The other side was a cokehead who would scream about nothing from 3am twice a week.

So at best I was getting 5 hours sleep a night and of course I was working through the pandemic and they were not.

I tried to be polite, I reported the cokehead because she had a child in the house and nothing was done. Our council were next to useless but they are not living between it.

What I did learn was despite them making so much noise and her waking me up they both didn't like the same treatment. The 10 hours a day hot tub neighbours would complain if someone cut their own grass at noon. So I complained loudly one day and it quietened down for a bit.

The other side thought my ringing her bell at 8am to complain was an unreasonable hour. Because then she was asleep.

Selfish, awful people. I just didn't understand it. Why should their want to noise trump yours for quiet?

I moved in the end.

Helenloveslee4eva · 21/06/2025 11:07

TheGreyMember · 21/06/2025 00:26

Get a radio in the garden to play Classic FM loudly on maximum volume every time they disturb you. I have a feeling they really, really won't like that. Maybe some lift music? Or even better, put some porn sounds on. No doubt the neighbours will all think it's them and complain.

Or the ring cycle 🤣

LillyPJ · 21/06/2025 11:05

Danni2224 · 21/06/2025 10:20

I didn’t say they are but you can’t turn your garden into drinking den party venue it’s plain idiotic.

I commented that some commenters were being snobby because they said the noisy neighbours sounded like council house tenants. We all agree that the neighbours are being anti-social.You're confusing two different things.

bombastix · 21/06/2025 11:05

The real problem with people like this is that they don’t care; they move from place to place acting like this, rinse and repeat.

if it gets really bad, you can get soundproof windows. Expensive solution for cheap people, sadly

PorridgeEater · 21/06/2025 11:04

Grim. Can't think of anything better than save up and move.
Meanwhile tall growing plants and can you get a sound blocking fence?

WestwardHo1 · 21/06/2025 11:02

EscapeToSuffolk · 21/06/2025 10:59

These stories are the reason I bought a detached bungalow on a road with other bungalows.

Well I imagine everyone would do that if it was an option. Sadly many of us have to live in terraced houses for money reasons!

Edit: sorry, missed your follow up post

EscapeToSuffolk · 21/06/2025 11:00

Sorry - that's no help but I'm just saying that it sounds so awful living people like this that I ruled out any houses where it was even a remote possibility.

Enrichetta · 21/06/2025 10:59

Landlords are not responsible for the behaviour of their tenants.

It’s the Council’s Environmental or Noise Control the OP needs.

WestwardHo1 · 21/06/2025 10:59

I'm so sorry OP. It's beyond belief how selfish many people are. It fills you with an intense yet weary hatred which is so stressful.

I feel like a bastard for saying but my immediate neighbour is very old. I thought it had been quiet for a while, and some other neighbours confirmed he's in hospital. He's in pretty poor nick and I'd say was nearing the end of his life. While I can hear his radio, often at night as he's a poor sleeper, and his explosive sneezing, I've got off fairly lightly. And I dread the day he's no longer with us, given what I hear about what awful neighbours even normal seeming neighbours can be. We have shared access through the back gardens too 😱

EscapeToSuffolk · 21/06/2025 10:59

These stories are the reason I bought a detached bungalow on a road with other bungalows.

Sewaccidentprone · 21/06/2025 10:54

When I was trying to get ds1 out of bed as a teen (at some point I the afternoon) I listened to The Magic Flute. It was quite amazing the effect the Queen of the Night aria had 😂

dizzydizzydizzy · 21/06/2025 10:53

Sounds absolutely awful. I'm sure you could successfully take legal action if necessary:

www.ellisandco.co.uk/guides/home-improvement/noisy-neighbours/#:~:text=Can%20you%20call%20the%20police,may%20be%20committing%20a%20crime

Although you'd obviously have to think carefully about this.

Freud2 · 21/06/2025 10:51

CanOfMangoTango · 21/06/2025 09:02

Get talking to your neighbours OP. Sounds like everyone is sick of them.

Some good ideas from PP
Stinky comfrey tea
Universal remote to mess with the TV
A mosquito to repel the teens
Mozart to repel the adults
Thorny plants to block the view

You can probably implement most of those with plausible deniability.

How long have they been in the house? You may find that old to let ads are still on the Internet somewhere so it might be worth searching to see if you can find out who the letting agent/ landlord is.

Best of luck.

Yes it might be an idea to get a petition going among all the neighbours as then the council tend to do something about it.

ScouserInExile · 21/06/2025 10:49

SorbetSarnie · 21/06/2025 09:42

I don't suppose you have a link for that wondrous device@smallglassbottle?

They have emerged, as was inevitable.

The bass is thumping. The tub is thrumming. The dad is yelling.

I would love a ticket to the town in Switzerland with @Naerolls and @Lillypj please.

I really feel for you. This was us 4/5/6 years ago. I'm so sorry for anybody going through this.

Some of the flippant posts on here are completely tactless. All the "I'd do this..." because no, actually if you were in this situation, you wouldn't.

For us, even a polite comment about the hot tub noise resulted in them killing our dog. It's honestly not worth trying to reason with people like this.

I hope you won't have to put up with them for long.