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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ring my neighbour's doorbell every half hour

250 replies

Bellini81 · 03/06/2017 08:05

To make sure they are up? Back story is we have a house of "professionals" who live four doors along (no idea how many live there, but there is a few of them) and come the summer months they hold regular parties that spill into their back garden and keep us all awake, we knock when they wake our kids up but they are always so very pissed and it's like talking to a bunch toddlers when asking them to take the party indoors.

Last nights party went on till 3am, we went and knocked 4 plus more times before the noise settled down. I've got work today so I can't have a lie on go catch up on my sleep Angry

Would I be unreasonable to go and ring their doorbell every half hour with a cheery smile to make sure they don't get to sleep off their hangover?

I've just lodged a complaint with the local council but I'm sitting here so tired and fed up.

OP posts:
AyUpMiDuck · 04/06/2017 18:06

Call the police to report nuisance. I did it every couple of days for a few weeks when we had party people move in nearby.
I also went round at 8 am the morning after their party and asked to have a chat with them about their unsociable hours. I told my noisy neighbours that almost every other house in the street was inhabited by families: i.e adults who had jobs and children and were restricted by school and work hours so they have to sleep at night. I explained it very thoroughly. I then said a late night party once or twice a year till , say 12.30 - 1 am was acceptable if they let us know in advance so we could make arrangements to be away if at all possible.
If it's a rental it's very likely that their tenancy agreement will cover nuisance etc so you could report it to the landlord. Luckily our noisy folk were on a 1 yr contract and eventually moved out. I told the Landlord's agent that they must advise any prospective tenants that this is a residential street in a traditional suburb and not Party Central.

SarfEast1cated · 04/06/2017 18:11

I love you too OP! Well done 😀

Justaboy · 04/06/2017 18:11

Your doing the right thing there getting the environmental health involved in our town there was someone who ended up getting evicted for this sort of thing.

It seems to take a while but keep pressuring them for the result you need.

Original poster
Bellini81 · 04/06/2017 18:17

That's the thing, if they do want to celebrate a birthday etc or throw a party and it's going to a loud, long night and they told us even an hour before it kicked off we could stay at my inlaws up the road without any problems, we can't do that at 3am though.

I remember this happening on one of the many nights last year the night before we were going to Thorpe park for the day, we had got the tickets online so couldn't cancel it and we were dead on our feet all day, not a great day.

We all have lives to lead and can't spend days catching up on lost sleep and yes sometimes I have a few friends up and we get pissed but I'm not an ignorant dick to think I can throw a full blown party that disturbs everyone because I want to.

OP posts:
PersianCatLady · 04/06/2017 18:23

Are they renters op? I'd find out and be hassling the landlord constantly
From my experience, as long as a LL is getting the rent money they couldn't care less about how much nuisance their tenants are causing.

PersianCatLady · 04/06/2017 18:28

no clues if it's rented out etc a google search of their names didn't bring up anything either
Do a Google search of the address.

If it has been up for sale or rent in the last few years you will usually find that the details have been archived on Rightmove or Zoopla.

If not, just check Rightmove or Zoopla to see the details of when it was last sold.

catsaresomucheasier2 · 04/06/2017 18:32

I always thought evening noise had a legal curfew of 11pm, after that police can be called. I'd never dare just go round, I'd send police Hmm

PersianCatLady · 04/06/2017 18:34

So I'll try again Monday and chase up the local council too
I am sorry to tell you this but you are wasting your time.

The council won't care because you need logs of persistent noise and anti-social behaviour lasting at least 8 months before they will even look into it.

I have been down this route with anti-social behaviour and honestly no-one cares.

Not the council, not the LL, the letting agent (LA) came round to meet us and said he would look into it and we never heard back from him.

The police agree that the behaviour is disgusting and then contact the LL and the LA.

The LL and the LA still do nothing.

Contrary to popular belief, the LL does not have to take action when his tenants are disturbing the neighbours.

In fact most LL forums now tell LLs who have had noise complaints reported to them to tell the complainant to call the council but otherwise to do nothing.

It is absolutely ridiculous but this is how it is.

heedee · 04/06/2017 18:34

You have my sympathy @Bellini81... we've had to move house in the past because of antisocial neighbours! I have no problem with people being in their gardens enjoying life but NOT with loud music in the middle of the night and drunken parties all day long where I had to keep my kids in the house because their swearing and explicit details of who they had just shagged the night before were not something my young children (or anybody for that matter!!!) needed to hear about! 😡

wannabestressfree · 04/06/2017 18:37

This is happening to me at the mo. I thought I had hit the jackpot as I am seriously ill and was given a housing association property. My neighbour is a nightmare- music from 7 in the morning until late at night every night, speakers on the floor so it vibrates through the house (I gave them some carpet), pot smoking in the shed!!!! So I can't have my windows open, man screams and shouts all day- f...ing this and f...ing that.

The last few days I have cried. They have been warned by the housing officer. That's it. I am exhausted.

PersianCatLady · 04/06/2017 18:40

he said it doesn't matter if they own the house, rent it or council tenants, its not acceptable
Everyone tells you that but no-one actually takes any action.

The only thing you can do is to call the police if the noise gets ridiculous after 11pm but it won't be a high priority and it won 't stop the noise starting again as soon as the police have left.

There is the way noisy neighbours should be dealt with theoretically and then there is reality.

Flowerdew2 · 04/06/2017 18:42

I think you showed yourself up. They will just think you are a crazy woman and it will be a funny story. Did/do you never go to parties? I think you behaved childishly, and the fact the lady was up with wet hair kind of invalidated your whole point as she was up and getting ready for work herself. What a waste of time of effort for you when you could have had a lie in!

PersianCatLady · 04/06/2017 18:43

I always thought evening noise had a legal curfew of 11pm, after that police can be called. I'd never dare just go round, I'd send police
That is how it is supposed to be, unfortunately the reality is very different.

AlexRose5 · 04/06/2017 18:44

Not my story... my mates....
a few years ago a gaggle of students started renting the house next door to my friend and his partner . He had visitation with his then five year old son on Friday overnight. Students began throwing horrendous parties til 3, 4 , sometimes 5 am , which in turn made his son very upset about staying at daddy's because he was scared of the noises all night . Asking these idiots nicely got him nowhere . Letters to the landlord and council would make one or two weekends quieter but then back to the madness . He's a hard working man and it just got to him one night after knocking three times explaining his son was upset. By 2 am he took his baseball bat, marched in past the occupants and proceeded to smash the living daylights out of their sound system . They did not say a word and just stood against the wall in shocked silence. My mate never had a problem again . Students moved soon after and now a policeman and his family rent next door.
The students never reported my mate.
I'm not condoning criminal damage, I'm just saying this story is an example of how far noise intrusion can push good people.

Cromwell1536 · 04/06/2017 18:47

It's so inconsiderate. If you want to party noisily (and I have been young! and have loved partying) go to a club. They stay open all night and are designed for people who love loud music, dancing, drinking and talking bollocks all night. In France, the police can take your sound system away if they turn up and can substantiate complaints about party noise. Allez France! Sounds like you should join forces with your neighbours OP. Good luck with the bastards.

josCS · 04/06/2017 18:47

I had a neighbour that yelled at night and played music loudly. I called the council and reported it. They then gave me a number to call when the noise was actually happening and sent someone round to record it. The landlord was contacted and the tenant was warned then evicted. Hope your council has a similar service, good luck.

jayne1976 · 04/06/2017 18:51

I've done it before in hotels, when muppets think it's so exciting to be staying in a hotel (worse at Christmas!) and run around until stupid hours of the am. Despite explaining my young child was being kept awake they carried on. Guest services did move us, but obviously we had both room keys to get our things in the am. Our party started around 7am when we returned back to the room we had to vacate 😉

JaiOm · 04/06/2017 18:54

We had a special cd for when our neighbours through the wall had a late party. It was the worst trance music ever (found left behind in a hire car)

We set speakers against wall and put it on loop whilst we went out for the day

So satisfying

Have also called 101 for other neighbors and they always came out eventually and had a word

Thank goodness for detached house now!

jessebuni · 04/06/2017 19:00

If it was say 1-3 times a year they do this I would knock on their door the next morning and just ask them to in future give advanced warning if they are having a party/gathering so that i could try and make arrangements for a lie in or to stay at a friend or relative or maybe the kids to have a cheek to sleepover at the grandparents. However if it's a common thing then keep ringing the council every time they do it. It'll probably take a while for anyone to do anything but if you keep complaining so that they have a log of it they will eventually be able to do something. My friend had the same thing with a student house next door to her. For months the council did nothing more than send them the occasional letter to remind them to be considerately of neighbours but then after having a full log of many incidents they went to the property owner and informed them of all the issues and also came to the door of the student property with a more serious letter and a police escort to explain that if it continued they would be served some anti-social thingy notice which could come with fines etc. Nearly all the students actually moved somewhere else presumably to continue partying next to some other poor neighbour.

hmbn · 04/06/2017 19:02

YANBU and I just loved how you handled things when the woman opened the door!

One of our neighbour's daughter's boyfriend used to come round in his car and just beep the horn until the girl came out. It was ALWAYS when I'd just got DS (babe in arms) off to sleep. I got so incensed that I took DS out to the car and asked if he'd like to take us round the block a few times so that the baby went back to sleep - and let him know that he caused the problem! He never did it again. I believe in karma and I heard a few years later that one of his kids was a terrible sleeper!

DireStraights · 04/06/2017 19:05

Get a hedge trimmer AND a leaf blower.. they are soooooo annoying if you are trying to sleep.

grannytomine · 04/06/2017 19:06

A friend of mine had a similar problem. Her husband is Italian. He "accidentally" had a conversation with another neighbour about his Mafia connections and how they sorted problems out for him. The parties stopped.

S4RA · 04/06/2017 19:09

Bellini81 You ROCK!! 😂

lynney88 · 04/06/2017 19:16

Did you not ring the police? I would and I have when my neighbours took the piss.

bakedbeansandtuna · 04/06/2017 19:18

This always get very bad when the weather is nice. I always cringe on a hot day because you know there's going to be a lot of racket until really really late.

Although, maybe its some sort of noise catching thing that hot weather brings on...you often find people tend to play booming music from their cars on days like these, not that that bothers me as they aren't parked outside the flat.