To potentially get my neighbour's evicted?

[indianburritode]

I own a flat in a block of 6. One of the flats is owned as an investment property by a lovely woman.
We've never had any issues with noise and have happily lived here for 14 months. 2 months ago, one day I suddenly heard so much noise.
The noise is loud running footsteps across the ceiling. It was irritating but I thought it was a one off.
I soon found out a new family had let the flat above us. I haven't met them (they seem to themselves and have never said hi when I've tried to) but there seems to be mum, dad (30s?) And two young children.
EVERY DAY there's loud loud running, footsteps. This never happened before or was an issue with the previous tenants. It wakes me up, it's irritating, they also run past my front door and set my dog alert as brush past our front door screaming (our flat is a maisonette so own front door on the ground level).

I've already spoken to the owner and she was lovely but wanted me to go through the letting agent. A complaint was raised to ask them to keep it down. Nothing changed.
I called up the agent (as asked by owner) and they said they want me to send a complaint in writing, they will then he classed as breaching the contract, and potentially kicked out.

On one hand I feel guilty as they're a family and have just settled.
On the other hand, they have had a chance, they're not even trying, it is consistent and it's affecting my life now.

WWYD?

Must be difficult for them though to stop children running, depending on age of course. If toddlers they run everywhere, so it would be difficult for the parents to control it constantly. If older children it should be easier for parents to stop the running. That’s the disadvantage of living in a flat I guess.

Have they taken up the carpets?

Unfortunately that is probably just family noise. You can ask for them to be more considerate, but it's not really something they can be evicted for. Of course if the owner really wants to evict them she could issue a no fault Section 21 eviction notice, but I can't see why she would want to go to that trouble and expense.

I think you've just been lucky up until now, but this is the sort of thing that living in a flat can mean.

Good point about carpets. Some flats have rules about having to have carpets. And if they don't have them then you can suggest to them or the LL that they get rugs.

Hmm, I think hearing footsteps is part and parcel of living in a flat tbh.

We actually had a similar complaint from some downstairs neighbours when we lived in a flat (we'd lived in flats before and this had never happened). It was bizarre because we truly weren't making a lot of noise, just two adults periodically walking across the floor!

Unless it's happening at antisocial hours, I don't think it's a valid complaint, it's part of living in a flat. It would be different if they were screaming, playing loud music, etc.

I'd write the letter. If you are supposed to suck it up as being part of living in flats, then they have to suck up that they need to be considerate of the people below. If they don't, then they get evicted. Tough shit. It's on them. 🤷

If you haven't met them and told them how are they supposed to know there's even a problem? You jumped straight to ringing landlady and agency. Surely a quick word would have been better? You may find they are mortified and quickly put down rugs. Think it's unreasonable to go for eviction if you haven't actually tried to resolve the issue!

I could’ve written your post, almost!

Lived in the same flat with DH for 3 years without issue, and six months ago a young family have moved in with a toddler. I’ve not been able to have a lie in since they moved in. This morning I was woken up at 6:50, and never able to get back sleep again because it’s on and off all day. It sounds dramatic, but it’s ruining my life. I’m utterly miserable.

I don’t think loud footsteps would be enough rationale to evict them if they’re otherwise good tenants and pay rent on time etc.
Maybe you could discuss it with them directly rather than the agents?

Good point about carpets. Some flats have rules about having to have carpets. And if they don't have them then you can suggest to them or the LL that they get rugs.

And they could at least make sure none of them are running about with shoes on inside?

Unfortunately that is the problem with children living in flats. They are not being inconsiderate or anti social they are just being young children. Anybody who has lived below young children will tell you the same. It is every day family noise.

Breach of contract for living? They have kids they're a family they will find it hard to keep the noise down

Noise might be part and parcel of having neighbours in close proximity but there’s no reason for anyone to be running about all day. Me and my DB certainly weren’t allowed to constantly run around our house; neither is my niece.

I lived in a flat that had noisy neighbours; an older couple and their grandchildren. TBF the insulation in the flats was crap so sound-proofing was non-existent but all day the kids would run about and bounce balls on the floor. God knows why as the flat was less than five minutes from the beach and a couple of parks! Thankfully, they only used it as a weekend holiday place.

They may not be running but they will be playing and not sitting still. All kids do that. And it sounds loud if you live below it. Even with carpets.

As someone who has had this issue myself with my next door neighbour trying to get us evicted I really urge you to think twice about this... she's made my life a living hell im just lucky that the letting agents are actually on my side, we live in a middle terrace house, I have an 18 month old daughter we moved here when she had just turned 1, all was fine for a few months then she started ringing the letting agents on a weekly basis moaning about the constant banging coming from our house, it got to the point my child couldn't play with any sort of loud toy without her banging on the wall, every single time I hoovered it could be 11am or 2pm she would bang on the wall, I find it very hard to believe they could evict someone over children walking & making a noise, what do you expect them to do lock them in a cupboard? Make them sit in a corner and not move? It's virtually impossible to live a completely silent life when you have children. Luckily for us our next door neighbour has now realised she can't win and won't intimidate us to move out & all the letting agents tell her to do is report to the council for environmental health which she refuses to do!

Have you tried actually talking to them?

Were any of the previous occupants families with small DC? I am wondering if this is just usual family noise as you have only been there a year or so.

Replacement tenants could be even worse!

Or as PP have said, have they taken carpets up?

Don't worry, this isn't an issue. There is no way they will be evicted for making normal family noise!

You say you own your flat - do you have a copy of the lease? Check and see what it says about noise and floor coverings. In theory all the leases for the flats in you block should be more or less the same. Usually there is a clause about carpet or sound insulation and flooring (if you see a clause about 'Quiet enjoyment' keep looking, it doesn't actually refer to noise). You can at least try and check with occupants/agent/owner that the floor covering is as per the lease. If not then it falls to the owner to rectify and the freeholder to enforce. Same goes for any clauses about the common parts of the building. I agree that flat living involves a certain amount of noise but impact noise from above can drive you nuts and is often avoidable. Rugs worked with my upstairs neighbours and their kids.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/05/noisy-neighbours-must-pay-banker-100000-compensation-floors/amp/

Without even trying to speak to them and coming to a resolution like an adult, you straightaway ran to the landlord. THAT is spiteful. Be an adult and talk to them, you may find that they will do their best to ensure you are not inconvenienced. However, you also need to be reasonable too and not make issues constantly over the smallest things.

I agree that talking with them directly about it is the best way to go. Same with @PaperFlowers4. Have you spoken with them directly about it and perhaps suggested some solutions, e.g., putting down rugs.

When our downstairs neighbours complained, we were honestly surprised as we had no idea that they could hear our footsteps. Also, as we both worked full-time.and were usually out at the weekend, it had never occurred to us that we could be bothering anyone.

Anyway, just talk to them. That's what our neighbours do if there's an issue about anything and most people are reasonable.

Go and talk to them, going the the landlord is quite mean TBH. I don't know what you expect them to do really. I'm surprised that you can hear footsteps - we have no carpet in one of the rooms upstairs and I can't hear footsteps when DD is walking round in there.

Definitely talk to them first. They may not realise the noise carries and it’s only fair to give them the benefit of the doubt and ask them not to wear shoes indoors.

That said, if they have carpets/rugs and don’t wear shoes indoors them I’m not sure what you think you’ll achieve. They’re not going to get evicted for walking. Their lease might not be renewed but the flat won’t stay vacant forever and you could end up with far worse than running children- toddlers especially can be quite heavy footed but I’m guessing they’re usually in bed early. If the sound proofing is that crap, the next people could be just as noisy and what if it’s late at night whilst you’re trying to sleep?! If that happens you’ll be kicking yourself for making such a fuss about the kids who will soon grow up, be running less and in school/nursery all day!

Agree with pp, normally if you have an issue with a neighbour you talk to them directly - if that fails, THEN you escalate to landlord/agent if nothing improves. It seems a bit unfair to not give them a chance to improve, they might not even be aware how loud the footsteps are.