To be so fucking sick of living according to my neighbours routine ?!

[MrsA2015]

End of Terrace Victorian Victorian property converted into two flats, I’m on ground floor. Upstairs has 3 children 1-11 the noise from that is a whole other thread.

What’s really getting to be at the moment is the constant praying/chanting/pastor sessions (online) at 11pm on the dot since Easter Sunday. Frigging sick and tired of listening to it and the 6:45am Sunday wake up and what I’m guessing is pre-church family LOUD prayer session, then 20min of shrieking kids In the shared hall way that’s backed into my bedroom.

It’s constant and relentless, droning monotone voices, deliverance from the depths of hell? They’ll need saving from the depths of my damn shredded nerves before that.

I’m so so tired.

Every Saturday night I’m kept awake by late night cooking and filled with dread as I count down the hours to following morning.

39+4 weeks pregnant and at my wits end.

Yes I’ve spoken to them.
Yes I’ve reported.
Yes I’ve BEGGED for some peace.
No can’t move out.
No have nowhere else to stay.

Yes I’m crying desperately as I’m petrified already of the sleep deprivation to come coupled with knowing I’ve got these inconsiderate arseholes upstairs.

@ShouldWeChangeTheBulb

Oh ok I’ll just deal with a megawatt blender going off till and pounding vegetables against the floor and clattering pans till 1:00am. Which is most Friday/Saturday nights.

Get up early by all means but consider your neighbours bedroom proximity to the front frigging door. Doesn’t take much.

Do they have a carpet upstairs? Can you get someone over to soundproof your flat?

Thing cheapo carpet straight onto floorboards, we’ve pleaded with their landlord to put some underlay in but to no avail.

They were outside when I arrived earlier, they thought I’d had baby. Such a kick in the teeth as it means they though a newborn was down here and were still happy to just carry on.

If they are Christians a few bible quotes may not come amiss- there’s a fair few about being a good neighbour and about time keeping. A bit of googling or a good concordance (sort of bible- word finder) will help find them quite quickly. e.g.
Psalm 127:2
“It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
And
Proverbs 27:14
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.”

Unfortunately the people who would be able to pass a law which would be quite frankly life changing for many, are those who will never ever have to experience living in such accomodation for the duration of their lives.

"The House of Lords has held that tenants cannot generally invoke common law remedies against their landlords where premises have been let with inadequate sound insulation. The decision in London Borough of Southwark and Another v Mills and Others (House of Lords, 21 October 1999) acknowledges the plight of tenants living in multiple-occupied older premises where insulation is so poor that even ordinary sounds made by neighbours can be unbearable. But the House of Lords has clearly indicated that the economic implications of upgrading are such that any solution must come from the Government and Parliament."

In 1999 computer said no. Think what a difference it would have made if they'd said yes, given what the housing market has turned into since then (gold dust for landlords).

Well if they are noisily cooking etc at 11pm onwards I think I'd stay awake till 3am then go up and bang on their door till they answer, and just smile and say "Morning"

and do it every night till they cop on.

I’m liking DrCoconut’s dad’s method, personally.

Noise cancelling headphones.

When it is really bad you can play White noise through them too.

Do they have kids? Perhaps you could call SS and suggest that they are being abused. Maybe say they are being subjected to weird exorcisms until 1am and being fed weird concoctions with blenders going off in the middle of the night.

I'd call the social services and tell them your worried these 3 kids are mixed up in some sort of cult with the late night prayers and chanting

Why are pp's suggesting SS. Do you suspect the DC are being abused OP.

Does it sound like they are having a normal healthy existence to you?

If they are Christians a few bible quotes may not come amiss- there’s a fair few about being a good neighbour and about time keeping.
Why would you think Christian? As far as I know Christians don't do anything remotely like what this family does.

Make sure you are dealing with the correct department and then just keep chasing them up. Complaint after complaint, Noise App, emails to MP - every day, not once every few months.

I have worked in a parallel setting and, although it is wrong, the people who get dealt with are the ones who persevere, because it becomes less time-consuming to sort out their complaint than to have them on the phone every day.

(Although please note this would be my second option, as I’m firmly in the move house camp. If you’ve got enough energy to get in a strop about “why should we move”, you’re clearly not exhausted enough. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses).

Playing Carmina Burana might be good (the music in the movie, the Omen and that of the Old Spice advert) with some saucepan percussion at 5pm. Our Dyson cordless cleaner thing emits hi frequency sound, Maybe tape the switch to "on" and go out for an hour.

Apparently the key words to use with landlord is"quiet enjoyment" of the property.

@Emeraldshamrock

Why are pp's suggesting SS. Do you suspect the DC are being abused OP.

At least the local authority would action something!

OP is on her knees and nobody will do anything. SS would HAVE to do something.

Awful way of getting attention, but when it's your last resort what is the OP supposed to do

Keep a noise diary, write every single thing down, record what you can and then get in touch with the Environmental Health at your council. They should then take the case on and give you an out of hours number that you can call, and someone will come out when these disturbances happen late at night and eRly morning to witness it themselves. As they don’t have to enter your property to witness the noise, Covid can not be a convenient excuse.

Find out who the councillor is for your ward, send him copies of all interactions you have had, along with a copy of your noise diary, send a copy to your MP.
If necessary get evidence from your HV or midwife.
Complain like it is your job.
It is awful I know, you spend all day dreading it, and become ultra sensitive to it, but keep at it

For those suggesting OP move, it's probably very difficult for most council tenants. OP may well have spent money on decorating etc and furniture and useful things that fit into her current home. Councils have huge waiting lists of families accepted as homeless and in housing need who they have a duty to house, and also of current tenants who need a larger property, for example. Shortages of family homes, by which I mean anything with 2 bedrooms or more, not the estate agent definition, are especially bad, and I doubt that someone in this situation would get priority. And if I were in OP's situation, and the problem was not my home but this selfish behaviour, I really wouldn't want to move even if it were possible.

If the children are awake during the night I would ring SS and report them.

Noise cancelling headphones

I feel for you OP! Our neighbours are deeply religious and are seemingly unaware of how loud they are. Some of the noises their children in particular make are positively inhuman and they tend to be the same repetitive annoying sounds over and over again. These aren't little children either, they are older children - home schooled though so not much break from it!

I find them quite antisocial, particularly on bin day when they pile their black bin high with rubbish and extra bags then leave it all in front of my gate in the path of where my car needs to reverse to get out of my drive. I think they have a holier than thou attitude and it just would never occur to them that some of their behaviour is anti-social. The only saving grace is they actually live two houses away from us which makes the noise more tolerable!!

@paintedsmile77 I think they might be Christian because quite a few Christians I know do behave like this. Especially chanting, singing that goes on for ages and turns into chants, noisy meetings and dancing. I don’t think that they are aware of just how loud they get and how annoying it can be for others. They assume complaints are a sign that they are doing something right and annoying “the evil one” (The devil, not the human neighbours) So get louder.
It all depends on what denomination of Christian - Pentecostals do it a lot, especially house churches- C of E and RC not so much.

This sounds like utter hell. I’d have moved long ago, sorry. I really can’t see this situation improving, it seems like you’ve done everything. I assume you posted on here just to vent?

I honestly don’t understand the mentality of people like this, the utter selfishness is just...astounding. They are literally not right in the head.

And don’t get me started on bloody religion!!

Seriously OP, I don’t really see what more you can do, it’s no good saying why should you move, I really think you’re going to have to ask the council to be moved. Surely they’ll know why as they’ll have the logs of all your complaints!!

OP. You wrote

I’ve had years of drs letters, letters to MP/ombudsman. Therapy sessions, anything to do with contacting council. Bar shelling out for a solicitor to do something (don’t know what but DH has been looking into things”. I’ve emailed and sent letters to all ports of call suggested already.

My ceiling looks like a dart board for all the jabbing with an umbrella I’ve been doing , so now I’ll be confined to bed with a newborn looking at a horrible ceiling too. grinleast of my worries eh

So if you have had years of letters and therapy, this is why you move. This is why you take charge of the situation the only way it can actually make a change as quickly as possible. Otherwise it’s just complaining for the sake of complaining.

Oh I feel for you. One of my neighbours has religious 'ceremonies' that involve shrieking to 'cast out the devil' from her children. It honestly borders on child abuse, her immediate downstairs neighbours have been out into the garden shouting up and begging her to stop doing it to the little girl. Are there no rules against religious gatherings that you can use? Sorry it must be awful.