Neighbour just lost his shit with me

[Overallthis]

Hi. I'm working from home just now as is my husband. Guy upstairs isn't working just now because of the lockdown. So we have had to listen to him yelling slamming doors etc every now and then.

He spoke to me today and said that a neighbour was coming over to unblock a drain and it would be £20 each. I said fine.

So I'm sitting here trying to work. It's our month end and pretty busy. I'm trying to resolve some issues that require concentration. Then I hear upstairs neighbour shouting outside. The drain unblocking is underway and other neighbours are turning up to watch. I can hear them talking and laughing but upstairs neighbour is another level noisy. He's shouting up at his gf, shouting at the others who are right there not at the other end of the street. This goes on for about 20 minutes and I am very frustrated because I can't concentrate on my work.

Eventually I've had enough and go out and ask upstairs neighbour if he can keep the noise down please as I'm trying to work. Well, he lost his mind. Roaring at me that he's just talking to his neighbours and that he had arranged for the drain to be unblocked because I am not bothered!

To be honest I don't bother arranging to get things fixed that require other neighbours to pay a share because this guy still owes me money from years ago. All the other neighbours paid me but he didn't and he threatened my dad when he came over to ask him about the money he owed me. And there's been loads of issues over the years with his neglectful behaviour resulting in damage to my property that he doesn't bother about when asked.

Anyway I was shaking. One of the other neighbours said he shouldn't be shouting at a woman. I went inside and got the money for the other neighbour. We spoke briefly and I was nearly I'm tears after being shouted at. I wanted to say something about upstairs neighbour's behaviour but I didn't.

I went back inside and could hear him upstairs going nuts, slamming doors and mouthing off at his gf. Then on the phone to someone, but that might have been about something else, I hope.

I'm a bit scared about repercussions now. I mean he's never actually done anything before and we've had a few run ins but when he threatened my dad he was implying that he knows some dodgy people who could sort him out.

My heart is still thumping.

Sorry you had to go through that. You've done nothing wrong in politely asking for less noise so you can do your work. He sounds hideous

Hi op,
I feel your pain & frustration - my neighbour must be his twin!
I assume that posters minimizing his behaviour, who think that all you need is headphones, haven’t lived next door to someone like him. No one’s expecting silence & normal household noise is perfectly acceptable but his behaviour would be considered anti-social. When I asked my neighbour politely to be more considerate - he was slamming doors, shouting at the top of his voice & playing music at full volume - he just shrugged his shoulders & said it wasn’t late at night so didn’t count. I wasn’t even working from home, but couldn’t concentrate to read nor watch t.v.! Another neighbour, from his housing association, let me see her tenancy agreement in which it states clearly that tenants must not themselves nor allow any visitors to disturb other neighbours’ quiet enjoyment of their property.
Is he housing association, private renter or owner occupier? He’s in breach of either his tenancy agreement or lease so you’re perfectly entitled to take action. Why should you & your husband spend £400 on headphones? He should be playing by the rules.
I complained about said neighbour & apparently his housing officer spoke to him. He was better for a while until he decided to beat up his gf one afternoon. He was given a warning & things quietened down until he had a party one Saturday night which ended up in a street brawl. It was incredibly frightening to witness but, maybe both events would’ve escaped my attention, had I taken some pp’s advice & invested in headphones?! Since the ‘party’, the housing association took action- not told what - but he’s been laying very low ever since, so fingers crossed....
Aside from him, my other neighbours are lovely - it’s a mixed development, housing association & owner occupiers, in a desirable area, &, on balance, I don’t regret my decision to buy here.
Good luck!

Do you live in a block of flats? If so why isn't the management company sorting these things out?

Hi unfortunately he owns his flat too or I could have reported him to his landlord. There's no management company that deals with the building and any issues either. So we have to resolve any issues ourselves. He also has a friend who works on the council dealing with environmental health complaints, I know this because of a previous issue with another neighbour. So the situation isn't great.

As has been said already...why are you all paying for a drain to be unblocked?
Contact your water company and they will send someone to sort it for you and it won't cost you anything

Oversallthis, what does your lease say about causing a nuisance to neighbours? I’m pretty certain he’s going to be in breach of his lease. If so, report him to your freeholder.

We had to get the drain unblocked once years ago and a neighbour said that the water company had charged for it, can't remember exact details.

We're not in England so don't have those terms, we just buy a property and sell whenever. There's no limit on how long we keep it. So no lease I (and I'm assuming the neighbour) have a mortgage. I've phoned the police on the guy next door when he was noisy and spoken to citizens advice about the neighbour upstairs when there's been issues also home insurance about making a claim when my neighbour caused damage but didn't go through with the claim because I would have had to pay a large excess and it wouldn't have been worth it. This is stuff that's happened in the years I've lived here. So I'm assuming that I would need to tell them about these incidents when I sell. Which would probably affect the sale

Be honest with an estate agent - they are paid fees to deal with the sale of your property - they will time viewings accordingly or certainly as covertly as possible. Do not tell ANYONE you are selling (I mean the neighbours, even the ones you like/trust) and don't have a For Sale sign outside. Damage is damage - it may impact sale price, it may not - get on the blower to them as soon as and get out of there.

he might of just had a bad day

Ok, it’s obviously different if you’re not in the U.K. Good luck anyway. X

StressedMum12 - have you read the full thread?!

Thanks everyone. We're in Scotland. Was trying to be subtle in case he reads this (you never know). It's a quiet street otherwise, lots of old people and a few families. Typical I drew the short straw and got the awful neighbour above me.

Surely we can't be the only ones who have dealt with this kind of issue. Has anyone been through similar and managed to sell?

Going to try to sleep now, what a stressful day hope tomorrow is better.