Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think i shouldnt be blamed for someone elses health problems?

103 replies

jasminedxx · 18/07/2015 21:09

Hi im really pissed off about this so if i am being unreasonable tell me,
i have just moved to a new property its social housing, i am the middle flat of a 3 storey building
there is no sound proofing in here, i hear the guy upstairs and i know the old man downstairs hears me,
i walk around in slippers, no young children are allowed in my flat, i dont play loud music and i have now started to turn my tv off at 8pm and watch things with headphones on the laptop.

received a letter today from neighbourhood manager stating i must carpet my floor within 10days since the housing association have provided me with 200 pounds towards carpet right.
200 will not carpet my flat
i will have to add my own money
i have also already told them i am allergic to carpet and will get vinyl planks yet they insist carpet since they are giving me 200
also in this letter they have stated the neighbour downstairs has complained about my noise and it is having a "negative impact on the health and wellbeing of your neighbor"

the guy who lives downstairs is an old man so if he drops dead tomorrow it seems like they are blaming me?
maybe im being dramatic?

the guy downstairs also complained about the last woman who lived here, he doesnt get along with my upstairs neighbor because he complained about something about him i don't know but he is just a serial complainer, he expects complete silence

im not trying to be a nuisance but i feel a bit picked on tbh
aibu?

i have lived with noise from upstairs and i understand its stressful but i hear the guy upstairs and he has carpet in his flat.

i work 16 hours so i do not earn that much to be adding the extra money in 10 days, i also have a 4 week old baby and my mother just died in may.

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 19/07/2015 19:47

Im in an HA property and we have had banging and drilling in one of the downstairs flats for months now from another tenant. My DH and i have not complained once. Ive jokingly nicknamed him Mr Pacific Heights(after the film) as ive still not seen him. But DH and i havent complained because he is obviously doing improvements which need doing.

We have been here 21 years and are very reasonable tenants. But IME its seems to be one rule for some tenants and another rule for others.

TeddyBee · 19/07/2015 20:45

We have a lot of the £9 rugs from Ikea and they can go in a washing machine - we chuck them in regularly as we have cats and messy kids.

BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted · 19/07/2015 20:54

200 quid will buy you a carpet for the living-room, so buy one.

"Allergic to carpeting"? How convenient.

You need to do as they ask, no matter how pointless it seems to you. They have the power to end your tenancy and they will if you don't comply. Few private landlords will offer a tenancy to someone working so few hours with a small baby in tow, so think on!

WayneRooneysHair · 19/07/2015 21:12

They will not evict the OP for refusing to put carpet down FFS.

And it's possible for the OP to be allergic to carpet y'know?

LuluJakey1 · 19/07/2015 22:39

My mum lived above someone who complained about the noise she made. Her flat had underlay and fitted carpets. He complained about her watching the news.They investigated for months and kept sending letters about noise abuse. Eventually the man from environmental health came to see her- she was beside herself with worry as she was disabled and old and frail- and said they had had noise detectors in for a few days, they had sat there with him for several hours and could hear nothing at all but he said he could. It was all closed down but had caused her about 9 months of stress and worry.

LuluJakey1 · 19/07/2015 22:44

What about those large thick cotton rugs?

You are entitled to live in your flat and make reasonable noise- TV at normal levels, washing machine, music, walking around. If you already have cork down, carpets would make some but not a huge amount of difference. It is the HAs role to so d proof- not yours. They won't because it is too expensive to do anything that is effctive.

An anti- histimine would probably help you. But lng term, is this the place for you with a baby? You are going to get very stressed and babies can't help but make noise looks at 7 months old DS who should be asleep

Atenco · 19/07/2015 23:42

"Allergic to carpeting"? How convenient

What a bizarre comment, it is one of the most common allergies around and I say that as someone without any allergies.

Lurkedforever1 · 19/07/2015 23:50

£200 will easily cover a 2 bed flat with carpet and underlay, even though it may be cheap carpet and not to your taste

HelenaDove · 19/07/2015 23:53

Which means he will still moan

Ilovecrapcrafts · 20/07/2015 00:06

I'm not sure about that lurked. We were just quoted £187 by carpet right for our box room and that was the cheapest carpet in store with them fitting.

Lurkedforever1 · 20/07/2015 00:14

ilove I don't dispute they did, but HA's tend to have the details for the really cheap places that can carpet a house for that. The stores aren't for social housing only but aren't the well known names. And depending on area could do it for less, even though it might be below the standard of what most people call cheap carpet

WorktoLive · 20/07/2015 07:58

Carpetright aren't cheap and attempt to confuse people with offers for 'free' underlay and 'free' fitting.

The cheapest places will be somewhere independant that does roll ends, but you will have to take pot luck with whatever is available.

However, I still don't think they will do the whole property for £200 and it the money is in a voucher, they might not accept it.

But it sounds like the OP is making reasonable attempts to be quiet and the downstairs neighbour will never be happy.

How come he complains about 'walking about noise' but not the baby crying?

Carpet will muffle noise a bit, but not block the noise of a crying baby.

sashh · 20/07/2015 07:58

It's the carpet I cannot have and I don't understand why people think carpet reduces noise because the guy upstairs to me has it and sounds like an elephant.

So how much worse do you think it is for the poor sod downstairs?

Unless you sit completely still from 8pm you are not stopping the noise, it really does travel down much worse than up which is why you hear your upstairs neighbour.

You need to go back to the HA and ask them for a solution.

Lurkedforever1 · 20/07/2015 09:31

And instead of telling the ha you are allergic to carpet, which does at face value sound like an excuse, tell them what and why carpet gives you an allergic reaction i.e a rash from contact with wool, or nylon, or on your respiratory system from the dust etc, because then they are more likely to work with you on a reasonable alternative.

Janette123 · 20/07/2015 09:36

OP, you took on the flat with those conditions attached. You signed an agreement to that effect and entered into a legal contract.

You need to fulfill the conditions you signed for or look for another flat.

Sorry, but that's how it is.

bimandbam · 20/07/2015 10:42

As a tenant the op has a right to reasonable enjoyment of her property regardless of whether it is a ha property or private rented.

The tenancy states she can't have laminate or wood flooring down. It doesn't state she has to have carpet just what she can't have. If a carpet infringes on her right to quiet enjoyment then the ha would be breaking the law by forcing her to have it.

The tenant downstairs is also entitled to the same rights at the op. However his rights don't override the ops. If the noise is as bad as he says then the ha not the tenants need to look at the soundproofing on the property. A carpet really won't make a deal of difference especially when the baby starts moving around.

Clutterbugsmum · 20/07/2015 10:54

Perhaps if your allergies are that bad then you need to see the doctor about them.

I have chronic rhinitis and anti histamines, so yes I understand how bad it can be but I still have carpets as I do not want to annoy my neighbours you have to learn to live with it.

Clutterbugsmum · 20/07/2015 10:57

and I'm allergic to anti histamines,

If you really don't want carpet what about cushioned vinyl

Atenco · 20/07/2015 14:26

Cushioned vinyl sounds good.

It does not make sense to put an allergyn in your house and then take anti-histamines all the time. All medicines are harmful over the long term.

Itllbefiiiiiiiiine · 20/07/2015 14:36

OP I have a son allergic to the carpet (literally the carpet - any man made fibres) and dust.
Get a good allergy vacuum cleaner (I find Miele excellent) and an air purifier (one that is recommended by Allergy UK).

I'm afraid I'm on your neighbours side with this one.

By the by, if you have a 4 week old, surely you aren't going to be in there much longer if you can't have young kids there anyway?

And I'm guessing he can hear the baby cry too.

Sleepyhoglet · 20/07/2015 14:36

I'm confused- you say no young children but that you have a 4 week baby?

Use the £200 as far as it goes. Eg maybe see if it will cover the one main room. You can't do more than that.

LIZS · 20/07/2015 14:42

But even cushioned vinyl doesn't absorb the noise and vibration as much as carpet. You were pg when you moved in , your baby will be mobile within a few months, what is your plan then? Could you not vinyl/rug the main area with your voucher as a start. For pp it is normal for HA to expect tenants to carpet/decorate when they move in.

Theycallmemellowjello · 20/07/2015 14:46

I don't understand why the op is getting such a hard time! If there's nothing in her tenancy agreement about carpeting, she rented the flat uncarpeted and has allergies to carpet, it's obviously u to insist on carpeting! If she's as quiet as she says it also sounds like she's being victimised. Op, I would speak to the HA about alternatives to carpeting. There may be a compromise.

Sleepyhoglet · 20/07/2015 14:54

Itllbefine - maybe OP can't afford to shell out for another vacuum cleaner etc.

Sleepyhoglet · 20/07/2015 14:55

Could CAB help you drafting a letter?
Can you copy the contents of the letter you received. We need to help you as you are vulnerable with a baby and on your own and don't need this stress.

Swipe left for the next trending thread