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Original poster

Noisy neighbours who seem to have council in pocket

36 replies

NeedpeacePLEASE · 13/10/2018 13:54

Nc, have posted about this before.

Frankly because I got fuck all support from either council or housing association I gave up complaining/keeping diary.

It also became SLIGHTLY better, though some things have continued.

Today for almost 2 hours now VERY loud banging from upstairs neighbours, clearly hammering (wtf can need hammering for that long????)

Dd just came through (we're in our separate bedrooms TRYING to relax). It's directly above her bedroom which is the main bedroom. She was videoing for another reason and caught the worst of it by video - was so loud/violent her stuff on her drawers was shaking and her tv nearly fell!!

Wtf do we do??

I was into the council loads last winter (they seem worse in winter as home more) but frankly as one of the occupants was working at council at the time, has since left but VERY small, insular council area where everyone is friends with or related to someone there except us! We are not "locals" and I honestly believe this is why we are being dismissed and they are getting away with this shitty behaviour!

Help! Cannot do another fucking winter with VERY loud DIY every bloody weekend especially when they're doing it early mornings which is what we had before.

Selfish bastards!!

And PLEASE don't suggest moving that is genuinely not an option I bloody wish it were!

OP posts:
Bluesheep8 · 13/10/2018 14:00

I'd advise speaking to your housing officer. They can visit in order to hear the noise first hand.

Graphista · 13/10/2018 14:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chickencellar · 13/10/2018 14:40

Have you name changed again ?
You can still complain the the council about their lack of action . They will have some facility to complain centrally without speaking to environmental health , ring them and ask.

finnmcool · 13/10/2018 14:51

If the police have been involved, don't the council have a duty to deal with this properly?
Have you tried your local councillor?

Graphista · 13/10/2018 14:55

Ugh fuck it re nc! So pissed off!

Council were involved last time but I felt they didn't take me seriously because the noise mainly occurred within "sociable hours" had noise machine in but as neighbour was working at council at the time I honestly believe they knew when I had it and were quieter generally, although I did record stomping (hard floors up there) but council said they can't ask them to put carpet/rugs down - although some councils have put bylaws in place preventing occupiers of upper flats having hard floors because of noise issues.

Personally I think it should be uk wide not to have hard flooring in upper flats, the noise is ridiculous!

I did also record noise occurring very early morning but even though that was in what council class as antisocial hours they didn't seem to care.

Bluesheep8 · 13/10/2018 14:55

I'm surprised the housing officer didn't speak to you first hand about it to be honest as that's what I would expect to happen. You could contact the head of property services to ask that your housing officer speaks to you about it.

Graphista · 13/10/2018 14:56

Local councillor useless! Just referred me back to council anti-social behaviour unit. Certainly WON'T be getting my vote next election.

TwoGinScentedTears · 13/10/2018 14:59

You can be take your own civil action wrt to noise nuisance without the councils involvement. It sounds like it'll be hard work/costly but it really isn't. I'll see if I can find a link.

Start with diarising the noise. All noise complaints start with a diary, whether through the council or privately.

Also councils have a statutory obligation to investigate noise nuisance and take action where appropriate. The Indianan can advise on this if you're not happy with the outcome of the councils involvement. .

TwoGinScentedTears · 13/10/2018 15:00

Indiana is supposed to say ombudsman. Bloody autocorrect.

Graphista · 13/10/2018 15:01

Have to admit not at all impressed with ha on this. Neighbours own (WITH ha) whereas I'm "only" a renter - that seems to be the issue.

Ha are saying that they have no powers to say anything to noisy neighbours. Council similar.

Personally I feel also the threshold in terms of how loud, how long for and type of noise is poorly defined by council.

Getting someone to hear first hand is virtually impossible as no way of predicting when or for how long noise will last, excepting 6am banging about which nobody will come out for! Not even wardens on duty at that time.

Also nature of the layout of the flats mean neighbours can see when wardens or police arrive and stop the noise!

Graphista · 13/10/2018 15:02

Council have been censured by ombudsman several times for not acting appropriately re noise complaints. Doesn't seem to make a difference.

Graphista · 13/10/2018 15:04

Council & ha keep saying about mediation but both police and the head of the mediation service think these neighbours are type this will just make them worse!

prettygreywalls · 13/10/2018 15:05

Local mp if your council won't listen
Or press

Iscreamforbenandjerrys · 13/10/2018 15:05

Hammering during the day isn't breaking any laws. Could you be noise sensitive rather than them being anti social? Living in flats is always difficult and usually loud.

TwoGinScentedTears · 13/10/2018 15:15

Unfortunately there's no definition of what constitutes a noise nuisance. It's a subjective and professional judgement that is upheld (or not) by a magistrate. The legal definition is woolly too. It doesn't matter one bit (legally) who owns or rents in terms of noise complaints btw. I think you need to try again with environmental Health.

Graphista · 13/10/2018 15:16

I scream - sorry but unless you've experienced this I don't think you can comment.

This is not occasional, short length of time hammering like is normal with DIY, I've always lived in flats and am quite used to some noise from neighbours.

THIS is so loud and hard our floors are shaking and goes on for hours at a time. Last winter it was almost every weekend inc starting at 7/8am on Sunday mornings!

abbsisspartacus · 13/10/2018 15:19

Unfortunately you have two non realistic options one move two put up with it because if it's going on during the day there is feck all they will do about it

Graphista · 13/10/2018 15:43

Abbs that sounds like the voice of experience! Sorry if so.

I fear you're right.

Which frankly I consider unacceptable.

Yes if you live in flats you have to accept a bit of noise BUT you also have to accept its not on to make excessive noise and disturb your neighbours!

abbsisspartacus · 13/10/2018 15:51

Exactly, I remember carrying my baby down four flights of stairs to bang on a door with a bunch of twats were having a party again the lady next door had pnd as did i not as bad though she was hiding from her crying child in the bathroom i complained to the council about the noise only to be told i couldn't possibly have heard it Hmm and I might need thicker carpet and turn off the baby monitor Confused

In the end there was an incident involving a member of the military and a very large hammer.....(he hit the stereo not the owner)

Graphista · 13/10/2018 20:19

"In the end there was an incident involving a member of the military and a very large hammer.....(he hit the stereo not the owner)" I'm an army brat - dad local but too elderly/ill now to deal with these clowns!

But certainly know that army types wouldn't tolerate this.

That sounds horrific - I did have similar neighbours at one place, I ended up moving then but it wasn't easy and it's expensive to move and I'm just not in a position to at the moment.

Those neighbours, after I left were eventually evicted but by that point it wasn't just noise they were wrecking the place! Landlords moaned but if they'd dealt with them properly earlier it wouldn't have reached that stage! Same landlord for block of 10 flats, by time they evicted them almost all the other flats were empty, the issue was known locally so of course nobody wanted to live in that block. Those landlords really shot themselves in the foot there.

Personally I think we need more stringent laws on noise generally and MUCH higher expectations of landlords dealing with anti-social issues.

E20mom · 13/10/2018 20:36

Daytime noise like that isn't statutory nuisance I'm afraid. So there's nothing for the Council to do,

Graphista · 13/10/2018 21:58

According to councils own online info daytime noise is an issue for them depending how loud and how long it goes on for, but they don't even seem to stick to their own guidelines!

HelenaDove · 13/10/2018 23:56

Graph i sympathize Been in my flat for 24 years

First 4 years we had an elderly lady underneath us who was lovely Even used to post a Christmas card through our door with a long message in it. Then for 19 years we had a really nice bloke underneath us who we got on well with Sadly he died 18 months ago.

And now.................we have someone underneath us who argues with his partner (i cant work out whether shes living there or not) throws things around And he smokes drugs Ive never smelt anything like it. I cant have the windows open when he is doing it. Its that strong skunk It really STIIIIIIIIIIIINKS Its disgusting.

And he had the gall to complain about me going for a piss in the middle of the night. And told DH he would come up here. Yet we never had any complaints from the previous two neighbours.

Selfish bastard.

Defenbaker · 14/10/2018 00:30

Graphista

"Personally I think we need more stringent laws on noise generally and MUCH higher expectations of landlords dealing with anti-social issues."

Totally agree. The trouble is, when they do manage to evict nightmare tenants, the problem is solved for some, but then moves elsewhere and makes life a misery for the new neighbours. I don't know what the answer is, but have sometimes pondered on the idea that special estates should be set up for all the nightmare neighbours, so they just annoy each other and leave decent people in peace. Totally impractical of course, it will never happen. Maybe a more practical long term solution would be to have mandatory "Good neighbour" classes in schools, where children learn about the impact of anti-social neighbours and the devastating effects they have on other people's lives.

Sorry, all that rambling is of no use to you OP. Have you asked your neighbours what sort of DIY project they are working on? They sound selfish and stupid, like they're banging around in a haphazard manner, rather than doing the job the proper way. If you found out what exactly they were doing you might then get an idea of how much longer they will take to finish the job. If they are complete idiots, attempting some sort of attic conversion without have the required skills, maybe you could report them to the local building inspector, as they may be breaking all sorts of building/H&S regulations. They are not immune from the law, just because they know people at the council offices.

Graphista · 14/10/2018 02:57

My sense of smell is dreadful but dd says she notices the smell of pot pervading the close and our flat that she thinks may be coming from theirs at times too. I don't smell it but when it's bad (dd mentions) I've noticed I get quite nauseous.

I'm vehemently anti street drugs and don't hold with the "it's no worse than alcohol" crap - I've seen first hand the harm it can do!

And yes they've complained about us, shot themselves in the foot though as they tried to claim we were arguing and gave dates/times - dd was at work at the times they claimed this was happening, a workplace where not only could her colleagues and employers verify but bloody covered in cctv and with electronic monitoring of staff entering and exiting as they use swipe card things!

"but have sometimes pondered on the idea that special estates should be set up for all the nightmare neighbours, so they just annoy each other and leave decent people in peace." AbsoBLOODYlutely! The ones I mentioned earlier that were evicted ended up struggling to find anywhere as council and local HA's refused to house them (turned out not their first eviction), but then you'd think also 'you've been evicted 3 times before - bloody learn before you end up homeless you idiots!!'

It's not one project it can't be via I had this for over 5 months during last winter too! Including what sounded like a sander on the floor one sun morning 8 am!

I won't approach them any more and they're not allowed to approach me due to aggressive and threatening behaviour.