Will my neighbours know I reported them?

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

Name change as I’ve been vocal about this on social media.

I live in a city centre apartment and my neighbours are very very loud. They have always been loud with music throughout the day and occasionally into the night with loud noises however they have gotten progressively worse.

Over the past six weeks I have made two formal noise complaints about them and rang night timesecurity to place noise complaints more times than you can count. They have played music well into the morning, banged, screamed and shouted. I am writing this thread after having no sleep as they have been up banging and screaming all night (and are still currently going!!). I have rang the security three times tonight and they haven’t stopped. I have invested in earplugs but they aren’t even beginning to block out the noise.

I feel like they are now reacting aggressively to each complaint I make and are beginning to bang on the walls (the layout of our flats means their living room backs onto my bedroom), so whilst they don’t know it’s me who’s been complaining as we have a lot of neighbours, think 10 flats per floor and 25 floors, they probably have a good idea who it is.

They have now taken to chatting in the corridors in the middle of the night very loudly and I think they’re just doing it on purpose. I’m so tired, anxious and stressed. I don’t know who lives there but I think at least two very big men and one female. I am disabled and quite frail so I don’t feel comfortable knocking on and I think they’d probably tell me to fuck off anyway. I have been making a noise log and I want to log it with the council however I’m worried they’ll reveal which flat made the complaint to them and it will make their behaviour worse. Does anyone know if they’ll tell them?

[notdaddycool]

The safest thing to do would be to discuss your concerns with the council and ask how they can protect your identity. If they say they can't then you might want to think again.

[HomeSliceKnowsBest]

The Police will come out for noise issues now (they palmed you off with the council for a bit but are investigating noise complaints again).

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

I hope that message made sense, I am sleep deprived. I just got through to near the end part of submitting the complaint and it says ‘your details will be treated with the upmost confidence’ however if the complaint leads to legal action they may need to be disclosed. Hopefully I have moved out of here by then anyway. My tenancy ends in July and I really like it here and would prefer not to move but I have no idea how long their tenancy is for/if they’ve signed on for another year and I don’t want to risk it.

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

Omg I just heard an alarm go off in their flat... so I’m presuming someone works? Why have they kept me awake all night partying 😭

[Hawaiidreamer]

I lived somewhere like this. I was below students. They used to be up all night and I assume asleep during the day. When I kindly asked them to keep the partying/ music down they just laughed. Some people are animals. Is It council owned or landlord ?
I moved out in the end and was bliss. Try and get a top floor flat if you can move x

[sandgrown]

Have you spoken to your landlord ? Is it a private property. If you are a good tenant your landlord may want to keep you there and be prepared to help .

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

It’s private property yes! I have no idea who my landlord is but have emailed my letting agents multiple times and they’ve only said I need to contact building management. I’ve contacted building management twice with formal complaints and they said they have sent letters to the tenants as well as contacted the tenants letting agents to say they are breaking the tenancy agreement but clearly they don’t give a shit as they carry on doing it. If anything I think complaining is making them worse as they just seem to do it more. I know each time I ring the night time security guard and he speaks to them it gets logged too but nothing is coming from that either.

I’m dreading this week as they can now go out and drink outside so I imagine they are going to be so loud.

[Hawaiidreamer]

Can you ring building management and ask them what their next steps are as the letters have not worked? The council should also be involved as this is nuisance noise.
The lettings agent should be recontacted and put it to them firmly that the situation is escalating and they need to get involved. There should be a private landlord behind the letting agent I imagine? I would do more digging.

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

Okay so I’ve contacted building management again asking if there’s any further steps they can take. Hopefully they get back to me with an adequate answer.

I actually live in a two bedroom flat so could swap my bedroom to the other one that isn’t directly attached to my neighbours wall but then I’d be without the en-suite which I really need due to the nature of my disability 😭 I don’t know what to do and don’t want to get all of my furniture moved around for it not to work.

[Hawaiidreamer]

When the neighbours are at their loudest - why don’t you go into the other room and shut the door and listen for any noise. You can do that before swapping everything. I know it’s unfair and you’re not near your en-suite but it might help your stress levels, at least as a temporary measure x

[eatsleepread]

Fucking selfish bastards. I am raging on your behalf.

[KatChocolate]

This must be awful, OP!

They must be disturbing the other neighbours too! Hopefully they’ll start to complain!

Really feel for you and hope you can get some support. Do you have anyone who can come round?

[raeroe]

Have you spoke to any of the other neighbours to see if they are having issues? I used to live in a flat where the person above only came at weekends to party (worked away) and it was horrendous! I used to go and knock and tell him to keep it down, then he changed jobs and it was all day every day, turns out the other neighbours had complained to the council and he got an ASBO. I'm now in a 4 in a block again with noisy neighbours but it's given us the push to save up to buy!! Soundproofing is just horrendous

[Poorlykitten]

Someone else in the block of flats must hear them too, if they are that loud? It can’t just be you. Have there not been any other complaints. Maybe you could canvas opinion and if there’s a few of you it might make you feel not so alone and also give you moral back-up.

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

Just had a response from the building management, just the same generic response as last time about sending them a letter so I think that’s going to be as helpful as it was before.

There’s no point going into a different room when they’re at their loudest. You can hear them through the bedroom, the bathrooms and the living room. I know that the flat directly above them can hear them as they’ve posted about them on the Facebook page that exists for our accommodation.

Because of how the building is shaped they don’t have any downstairs neighbours as I’m sure they would get it the worst.

[Hawaiidreamer]

Could you contact citizens advice and find out the best way to deal?
Also contact the council and letting agents again.
I’d also work with the other neighbour and find out what they’ve done so far. Perhaps you can support each other with this

[Noisyneighbourhelp12]

I will try and canvas other neighbours although it’s hard as people don’t really talk to each other. I live in an apartment complex of five city towers each 20/25 floors tall with 10 flats on each floor so approximately 200/250 flats per building. We all share a big private garden and two car parks but aside from that there’s no communal feeling and I’ve only ever seen my neighbours a handful of times so don’t feel too comfortable knocking on doors incase they are friends.

Have sent letting agents an email and ringing the council is on my list next.

[Feelingconfused2020]

Please ring the council. Don't wait. I am sure they can keep your identity secure but you can check with them first.

[Poorlykitten]

Obviously you don’t have to contact everyone but you said there was a Facebook group so maybe that’s a start? Can you private message the people in it that you know have had problems? They might be able to tell you what they have tried and if you are working together, might be easier to come up with a plan. They might also have better links with your neighbours potentially?

[MNWorldisCrazy]

@HomeSliceKnowsBest

The Police will come out for noise issues now (they palmed you off with the council for a bit but are investigating noise complaints again).

Every force is different

[MNWorldisCrazy]

I would definitely try calling the police if it starts again tonight though OP. If they do come out, it will get the Police on side which will help tremendously

[Returnoftheowl]

@HomeSliceKnowsBest

The Police will come out for noise issues now (they palmed you off with the council for a bit but are investigating noise complaints again).

That depends on the area you live in. Here noise is still dealt with by environmental health and the police will not attend.

[StoneofDestiny]

Get in touch with your local councillor and they can write an official letter asking the council what is being done.

[Somuddled]

OP I really feel for you. This shouldn't happen. I don't have any advice for how to get them to stop but I really recommend getting some proper ear defenders. Screwfix and Toolstation both deliver and sell ones for as little as £3 but if you can stretch to £20 you will be able to get a really good and genuinely comfortable pair. Far more comfortable than ear plugs.

[TheReluctantPhoenix]

I really sympathise. I find it amazing how little attention is paid to night time noise. It can absolutely destroy people’s sanity, especially at the moment.

I would contact the council and the police and see what they both say. Councils, I believe, will remove speakers. In addition, I would check the terms of your lease. Most have clauses about behaviour and could, ultimately lead to your neighbours being evicted.

I would document every incident and every complaint you make. There are many downloadable decibel meters, so you can see and record how annoying they are.