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Noisy neighbours. To move or not?

14 replies

metropolis · 18/12/2011 18:23

We moved a year ago to a Housing Association flat. We waited 4 years on the housing list and were privately renting a 1 bed which we outgrew when we had our DS. The new flat is a new build and is a nice flat. We had to put new flooring in and buy white goods etc. so spent a fair bit on it. However, since living here the neighbours have been a nightmare. Its the minority of our immediate neighbours who give social housing a bad name. Next door put in laminate flooring which we were told was not allowed by the Housing Association and we can hear them walking loudly all the time, usually until at least 3am. They smoke cannabis all day, even in front of their child and unborn child, and the smell comes into our hallway. We asked them once at 5am if they could stop walking around and they rudely told us to get used to it. Downstairs also smoke cannabis on their balcony, the smell comes into our flat. We can't open our windows in summer. They also party till 3am on their balcony which is next to our bedroom. These are families with children who don't have to work, so they can party all night and do the school run the next day and sleep in. Whereas we have to work and DS goes to bed normal hours at 8pm latest. Theirs are up till 11.30pm every night. I really want to move but everyone says what a nice flat we have. We've complained so many times to HA but we are told they can't do anything.

OP posts:
crazycrackernanna · 18/12/2011 18:26

My dd is suffering from noisy neighbours,so i hope you do not mind squatting on your thread Smile

Squatting....oops wrong term maybe...sorry.

purplehonesty · 18/12/2011 18:29

Leave your tv on Really loudly when you go to work for a couple of days and once they start missing out on daytime sleeps perhaps they will get the idea! Sorry that's a bit immature!!
We had really awful noisy neighbours in our last place and eventually moved, the relief was unbelievable and I have never regretted it despite living with my parents for 18 months until our new house was built.
Can you ask for a swap? I don't know much about ha.

TheSpreadingChestnutTree · 18/12/2011 18:39

Complain to the environmental health dept. at your local council? Why won't the HA do anything though?

Cankulzof · 18/12/2011 18:42

shop 'em to the rozzers only half joking

cece · 18/12/2011 18:45

We had noisy neighbours and in the end we moved. It was such a relief to get away from them.

Either that or call the police if they are smoking drugs?

foolserrand · 18/12/2011 18:49

Environmental health can and will act. Their number should be on your local council's website. They will often arrive with a pcso and have a good ol' listen. They will get the neighbours to turn the noise down too. Unfortunately, it'll be a few nights' quiet at best before you have to call them again. Eventually, you will build a case up, noise detection equipment installed in your flat and the neighbours could face a fine, removal of noisy things - you get the idea.

So, the good news is something can be done. The bad news is that it takes ages. We went through this all a while back so I commiserate completely. Really hope a warning is all your neighbours need.

crazycrackernanna · 18/12/2011 19:02

My dd was told they have to inform the tenant who is making the noise that the detection equipment is being used...which sort of defies the whole exercise,as they will just temporarily keep the noise down,won't they?

coccyx · 18/12/2011 19:05

Try and move, life is too short , sounds horrid

oflip · 18/12/2011 19:18

Move.

We had this for years, made me mentally ill in the end.
Took me almost a year to recover after we moved.

Its not worth your sanity.

Coconutty · 18/12/2011 19:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

metropolis · 18/12/2011 23:05

We complained to the police several times re the cannabis and they told us people are legally allowed to smoke it in their own homes. I told them they were smoking in front of children and they still said there's nothing they can do. They will only intervene if they are 'dealing'. Same story when we complained to the Safer neighbourhood team. Several staff and concierge also are aware of the cannabis problem but still have no power to do anything.

As for the loud music, we have never been offered any noise detection equipment. We complain to the HA all the time who write courtesy letters to them and try to speak to them but that is as far as it goes. The housing officer said because they are not on starter tenancies they can't take action to evict them. Only the court can but they rarely evict families. We also need other neighbours to complain but everyone I spoke to will not complain. They seem to just put up with it because they say the court will not evict them.

I'm worried about uprooting my DS so soon if we move again but I think I would really like to move. I don't know if we can actually find anywhere to move to. The private housing/rental market is unaffordable even with a fair deposit. So we are stuck in social housing.

We just registered on the transfer list but I expect it could be a long wait, years and years. We've also just registered for a home swap but wouldn't I need to be honest about the noisy neighbours? Doubt anyone would want to move here unless they were party goers. It makes me annoyed that we work hard and end up paying for other people to lay about, claim benefits and smoke weed all day.

OP posts:
jalopy · 19/12/2011 13:27

Write to the chief executive of your housing association and to your local MP.
It's worth a try.

notveryinventive · 26/12/2011 22:49

Sorry to hear about your problems.

I am in a council house and live in a bad street which I hate. We dont have a noise problem as much as yours, but we do have problems with kids in the street. Today I was called miserable just because I complained about them chucking ice at my house Hmm which apparently is just having a bit of fun. After 7 years we are moving to a little village miles from anywhere. We are leaving all our friends and family to move a 90 minute drive away just to get out of the street we live in. It was the only way we could leave unless we did a swap, but I was trying to get a move first which luckily we have, but only if we move out of our city Sad

Houseswapper is a good website apparently (like I said Ive not looked to swap as yet) and if you say your flat is decorated nice, you might be surprised and get someone to swap with you. You dont have to tell them, but there might be a reason why they want to leave their place so you need to be carefull. Also you might have to move to a different area because you might get someone moving who wants to live in the area due to family etc. Dont mention the noise, if you do swap and the people you swap with contact you to complain just say you didnt really realise and moved for other reasons. What are they going to do? Harsh, but thats life. People do houseswaps all the time to get away from bad areas.

I dont know how your local authority works with transfers, but I think sorry to say it will be a while if you go down that route as you are adequately housed so there will always be someone above you. We are lucky that we get to 'bid' on available properties so can see whats out there and what we want. I saw that because I wasnt in a high band (ie most needy) I would have a chance if I moved out of my city which I am having to do. Its not fair, but we have no other choice.

I hope you get something sorted soon. Why should you live in misery?

smackapacca · 29/12/2011 21:58

I haven't read the whole thread, but just to reply to the thread title - we moved because of noisy neighbours. Best thing we did. I had great advice on here although I think the threads would be gone now as I usually post in chat.

Anyway. The difference in our lives is immense.

Will read properly tomorrow. Night.

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