To ask for revenge ideas on the sodding students next door

[HomeIsWhereTheGinisNow]

At the end of my tether. Group of students have just moved into the terraced house next door, and had a 21st birthday last night. It was ludicrous, music pounding until 3am when the police finally shut them down. Desperate requests for the music to be turned down (not off...) at 8pm and midnight were met with serious attitudes and an expectation that as it was a birthday party we should just deal with it ("it's not Sen midnight...!"). The London council in charge of the borough has helpfully closed down their noise officer service, and as we're London we're bottom of the list for the police. So basically we're stuck. Begging them to turn it down so our two year old could get some sleep didn't work as they literally told me that they couldn't imagine what it'd be like to be a parent, it must be hard etc.

So here's the rub. Their landlord is gong to have a word but I'm not sure what he can do. The authorities won't help. So I suspect we're in for an academic year of misery, what would you do?

Never fails to amaze me how many people think it's okay to inflict loud noise on others. Why is it okay at 8pm? It shouldn't be okay at any time of day. You could be disturbing elderly or ill people, stopping young children or people on shifts from sleeping, or just people who don't like loud noise! It's just downright inconsiderate whatever the time of day.

Why shouldn't the OP complain at 8pm?? If the bass was very loud, she's every right to ask them to turn it down.

Op do you live with a partner? If so you should both go round, during the day and speak as calmly as possible. Say you've got to get along for the next year so it's best if you're friends. Tell them you don't mind low volume music but you will not tolerate loud music at any time and you will complain to their LL and university if they carry on.

Freshens usually get priority on halls of residence so I doubt that it freshens. Unless a mature/gap year student, so starting studying 19 or after, you're probably looking at a second or third year. If the landlord is going to have a word, could he find out which university college they're from as then you'll be able to complaint directly to the university itself. You may find however that if this a friendship group from halls, that they are scattered all over which will be a pain in the arise.

party music coming through the walls slightly at 8 is one thing but yes, I'd complain if the music from next door was so loud that I couldn't hold a conversation with DH standing next to me. Fuck that.

*bloody spellcheck - freshens and arise indeed. Pfft!

I guess different universities must treat this differently: I know that where I work we take the attitude that adults living in private accommodation are none of our business. I had a parent get very cross with me about this recently and the central university reiterated this policy very firmly. Perhaps it's because we're in a big city rather than being a university that dominates a smaller town, but I'm very glad this is our policy: I think it's madness to start monitoring adults and I don't see why the university should be any more involved in their private lives than in mine. Or do you all think that you should be able to complain to the university if you live near a lecturer who makes too much noise?!

Margaret, the Uni I work at is the same. They would only get involved if the issues were bordering on criminality like harassment or criminal damage and they would expect the police to be involved too normally. If only for the reason that the Uni has neither the time nor the resources to get involved every time a student has a noisy party or shoves a traffic cone in next doors hedge.

I don't disagree with that POV margaret but an increasing number of universities have off campus behaviour clauses in their discipline procedures as part of community relations/social responsibility

The threshold for action by the university is pretty high though - traffic cone in a hedge wouldn't get looked at

The last two uni's I worked at had an antisocial policy in their behavioural procedures. You get so many locals resentful of student housing as landlords buy up homes to rent out, that they don't see how much money students bring to the local economy. You only need a house of selfish students like this to aggravate a situation and then the university has to fight local perceptions again.

But lots of universities do have codes of conduct for living out and it can be a breach of the disciplinary rules to act against them.

E.g. York which has a sensible section on noise.

Bristol which includes "3.2 Students must respect local residents and be considerate to the local community. Disciplinary action may be taken in the case of:...Excessive noise that causes a disturbance to other residents at any time of day or night."

Those are just the first two that came up on Google. Many universities also specifically employ community liaison officers so I assume they take this seriously.

I accept one off parties, it's a 21st. Stopping at 8pm is ridiculous for at Saturday, midnight is fine, too. 3am is grating if it happens a lot. 15 years from now they'll be 30 somethings with kids and next door your kids will party until 3am.

We're in London so I doubt it's a big city thing.

While I agree that noise which interferes with your ability to go about your daily life (sleep, talk, watch TV) is unacceptable at any time, I would cut a little slack for a one-off student party on a Saturday night (so no work/school the next day) during Fresher's Week for a 21st birthday.

If it happened regularly and on weeknights, I would definitely be complaining though.

Maybe you could set up a stall in your front garden selling chicken nuggets in the small hours?

Clearly I was wrong, so fair enough. I've obviously been lucky enough to only work at places that have policies that I consider sensible! I have some real doubts about how enforceable some of those penalties would be if the student really chose to challenge them, but I suppose very few would.

I accept one off parties, it's a 21st. Stopping at 8pm is ridiculous for at Saturday

The OP DIDNT ask them to stop though she just asked for the music to be turned down a little to a level that was not ludicrous

Please don't bother getting into games of revenge. They will accept the challenge eagerly and you will have a year of cunning pranks and silly buggers. Parties interrupted by angry neighbours or the police are the stuff of legend and happy memories.
If it happens again, contact the police, the landlord and the uni. Keep calm and controlled.

Really not sure the LL can do much. Even if making too much noise and receiving complaints from neighbours about it is an evictable offence in their tenancy agreement, eviction will cost the LL time and effort (getting the paperwork correct is surprisingly tricky) and the LL will need to give them the required legal notice period (1-2 months likely). And would they go willingly, when other accommodation my be difficult to source mid-way through the academic year and without references? If they don't go willingly then the LL will have to spend money upfront (in legal fees), it would take another 6 months to shift them, even if the application to evict them is successful (and many are not - see above re tricky paperwork). And how will the students behave in the meantime?? 2 months plus 6 months - that's the academic year over anyway! How much effort do you think the LL will go to, given all of the above? The LL does not have a magic wand probably wishes they had.

It isn't unreasonable to ask them to turn down their music at 8pm when your two year of is in bed if you will be switching off the noise from toddler tantrums at 4pm when the students are at home writing essays....

I live between people who occasionally have a loud party and people who have two young children and honestly the constant noise of the toddlers bothers me considerably more because it is so unrelenting while the parties are just once in a while. Obviously would not complain, but there's always going to be noise from neighbours. I think it's a good idea to stay on their good side and not complain unless it gets worse, because otherwise they could make it a really awful year.

As a one off - OK.

Several times a term - not OK.

Bet your toddler going down the satirs "MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY"
at 7am is a bit annoying too

Our student midwife neighbors got stroppy when our brand new baby cried at 2 days old. We were Co sleeping and he was pretty much fine once he'd got to grips with bf, but I did think it was ironic. Prior to that when my daughter was a baby I went 2 streets over to find the source of the bass shaking her cot. I emailed Dean of students office after another set were persistently noisy, as well as calling the landlord whenever they woke us between 1am and 5am with post club parties.

MargaretCavendish "I've obviously been lucky enough to only work at places that have policies that I consider sensible! "

I'd be surprised if there are any UK universities who don't have these kinds of clauses in their rules. What may differ is how strictly they enforce them.

About 8.55ish on Saturday and Sunday mornings would be a good time to do all that drilling and putting-up of shelves you haven't got around to yet.

I've just double-checked and there is no such clause in the code of student discipline where I work. There are only references to behaviour on university property/during course-related activities and then to criminal behaviour. As I said, I was told very firmly by the central university that we have no jurisdiction over students in private accommodation (in response to a parent who thought I should somehow adjudicate in a falling-out amongst housemates). The university where I studied was a bit different because almost all undergraduates do live in, so obviously they are subject to particular rules there. I am pretty certain that the university I worked at previously didn't have such rules, but I wouldn't swear to it and it doesn't seem to have its code of conduct online.

It's good to get into the habit of testing your smoke alarm regularly. Maybe once a week, around 6.30am on a Sunday? Let it go off for quite a while, you want to be totally sure, after all. If you have a house alarm, even better.

Also, to move away from the 'can you complain to the university' rut I am now stuck in... Surely unless OP is end of terrace, any of the suggested revenge tactics will be just as harmful to the (presumably) blameless neighbours on the other side?