To do nothing about tenant?

[MyBurdenisHeavy]

Hi folks, happy new year.

We have a flat in London that was used for work 2/3 nights a week. Been WFH since pandemic and started to rent it out a year ago. It’s not typically a “family” building. Mainly young professionals. Anyway we were approached by a company who offered to lease it from us and they would manage the letting. Turns out they have a contract with a homeless charity or such and had a few units in our building housing homeless families during the pandemic. No issues there - all good. Fast forward a year and we’re being contacted by other tenants/owners who managed to get our number, pleading with us to do something about the people in our flat (a mother and 3 boys I understand - 2.5, 4 and 6). Apparently they are making the lives of the people below them (at least 2 flats based on the way they are laid out) an utter misery - stomping, running, jumping from morning to night I’m told. I contacted the company we leased it to and they said that they had received some complaints a few months ago and called out to talk to the family a few times. The complaints kept coming and ultimately they said the woman explained that the children were just playing and being kids so she didn’t know what they wanted her to do. They told me the kids were probably a bit boisterous alright but ultimately that’s part of apartment living and the neighbours just have to accept there’s a family living there and get on with it. The complaints kept coming apparently but they had closed the matter and are no longer responding to them - they told me there is a legal route the other residents could take if they felt strongly about it, but it rarely happens so just sit tight and don’t worry about it.
I’m now up the walls with anxiety and guilt and don’t know what the right thing to do is.
It’s abundantly clear that the woman cannot or will not control the kids (no judgement - just stating fact that it will not be resolved from that side). So the options are to carry on and leave things as they are - thereby upsetting the neighbours and ruining their home life (their words), or terminate the lease (I can do this in 4 months) and cause distress to the woman and her kids.
AIBU to do nothing, stay out of it and leave the family stay there?

Just read that carpets down

In previous home, we lived in downstairs flat. Lovely owner upstairs ripped up carpet and put down special insulation material and then covered in underlay and then carpet
It made an incredible difference to the noise we heard from upstairs. Reduced it drastically

My god this thread is disgusting. They are just kids running around! If they were playing music in the middle of the night or threatening people etc then yes the neighbours would have a point. But neighbours sound like a bunch of heartless snobs who just don’t want to live near a working class family.

They should all be ashamed of themselves. Tell them all to buy some bloody earplugs if they can’t sleep, and shut the hell up. What a bunch of spoilt losers - has it not even occurred to them that this is a HOMELESS FAMILY? If I was in their situation I would absolutely put up with it and remind myself every day how lucky I was. I used to live on a noisy high street, had very cheap rent which I was grateful for, and yes there was often noise at night. What did I do? I bought earplugs for god’s sake. Sorted out the problem.

Have you spoken directly to the tenants. What does their contract say.

Oh mumsnet hq
Don’t worry deleting any comments directed at me from bluebell
I think she needs to just lash out on this thread

@Fenella2000

Do the neighbours know the tenants situation?

Terminate the lease, apartment living is obviously not right for a boisterous family or fair on anyone

I know op mentioned that one of the complainers said recording equipment can't be used. I did wounder if that's because the noise is not as bad as they are making out

Exactly. If a noise can be heard, it can be recorded.

If the neighbours want their complaint to be taken seriously, they should report it as noise nuisance to the council's environmental health dept, with a "noise diary" detailing the times and types of noise.

I'd bet a £1 to a pinch of shit that, if the noise is children playing and daytime/early evening, or children crying, as they tend to from time to time, the council would come back and say it's noise arising from normal family life.

@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills where does all that anger and venom come from? Are you ok?

@Londonr

*doubt the council chose to house them somewhere so expensive… Temporary accommodation is normally one room with a shared bathroom and no cooking facilities!*

@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills

There are different types of temporary accommodation. Some are self contained. Temporary accommodation is also very expensive. Try 700 a week.

There's a large hotel in a south coast town where they rent accommodation to homeless families. Two rooms, one with rudimentary cooking facilities, and a shower room brings in well over £1k pw for the owners.

Understandably, councils try and use that accommodation for the briefest time possible before moving them out into properties leased in the private sector.

[quote MyBurdenisHeavy]@Cocomarine we’ve had 3 people contact us - 2 flats directly below and another one below but not directly iykwim.
I was saying it’s clear that the woman won’t change the kids behaviour as there have been apparently dozens of approaches directly to her and via the company and nothing improved so that appears to be a non runner.
I’m not aware of issues with any of the other families. Not sure if that means there are none or not[/quote]
This is what makes me wonder if these complaints are spurious, the noise is so loud that its affecting the indirect neighbour but if that was the case wouldnt that be easily recorded?

*Nobody has a God-given right to choose to live in an expensive city…..

Especially if they want the taxpayer to pay the rent for them!*

They wouldn't have chosen it -for the nth time. TA is where you are put. They probably don't want to be there as much as the 'middle class professionals' don't want them there

She did choose to have three children though….

@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills

She did choose to have three children though….

Seriously, make a thread and tell us what’s going on with you. Someone might be able to help you.

Problem families are called that for a reason.

I think that's is far easier to read about a poor homeless woman and say of course she should be allowed stay.
I think if she and her family are genuinely a very loud family and were impeding your enjoyment of your home , we all might feels very differently.
We lived beside very loud neighbours in our last home and it was frankly soul destroying , always on tender hooks waiting for them to start so I dig ace a certain sympathy for your neighbours especially when it seems it's affecting multiple neighbours l.

@Nopenopenope123

As someone who is having to sell their first home (a flat) due to the upstairs landlord letting it out to an extremely noisy young family, I would say you should consider the needs of your neighbours. It can be soul destroying living with constant noise, and not even white noise etc can drown out constant banging on your ceiling. It is so constant that I dread coming home at night - that’s no way to have to live.

You think hearing other families is more soul destroying than being evicted with your three young children?

@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills Two words - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!!!!! It can start before kids, after 1 kid, it can start once your kids are grown up or after 70 years of marriage!!! People can be made homeless for ANY reason! You really think she had 3 kids then CHOSE to become homeless or as you say, had 3 kids KNOWING she couldn't house them? No mate. People don't work like that

[quote GrannytoaUnicorn]@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills Two words - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!!!!! It can start before kids, after 1 kid, it can start once your kids are grown up or after 70 years of marriage!!! People can be made homeless for ANY reason! You really think she had 3 kids then CHOSE to become homeless or as you say, had 3 kids KNOWING she couldn't house them? No mate. People don't work like that [/quote]
They shouldn’t have had 3 kids in the first place due to overpopulation and the environment

Just ignore @BluebelllsRosesDaffodills

She’s lashing out. Her history reveals a lot of negative stuff going on. Yes, not pleasant but ultimately - so daft best to just not dignify with a response!

Oh Op, I really feel for you in this position as it's so hard to know what to do for the best. It doesn't sound like living in a flat is right for this family so the accommodation isn't suitable and I imagine it's making your neighbours lives a misery but at the same time, if they're a homeless family and you evict them (via the mgt company), where will they end up?

It may be that evicting them is what's necessary for them to be housed in suitable accommodation - they may be relieved as it can't be pleasant for them to not have a lot of space and neither is it pleasant to have neighbours constantly complaining but for the mum, she's unable to choose to leave as that's not something they can do as they're homeless (but I've no idea if his view is very naive as I have no experience of this at all).

I hope you manage to find some resolution that works for everyone.

[FWIW, I have 3 very well behaved boys but they're naturally loud and run around / kick balls / play / fight etc constantly and no way would it be pleasant for anyone who lived around us, so living in a flat would have been miserable for our neighbours (although they're in bed by 9.30pm but it would be constant noise all day) - we've never lived in a flat with them so it's not been an issue for us but I can see it from the mum's perspective that there's not much she can do as they're just being regular kids.]

@Malibuismysecrethome

Problem families are called that for a reason.

"Problem families" are families with problems. When their problems are resolved, they generally stop being a problem to others.

This family's problem is that they are homeless and housed in a property that isn't suitable for a family with small children.

@Excitedforthefuture

Just ignore *@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills*

She’s lashing out. Her history reveals a lot of negative stuff going on. Yes, not pleasant but ultimately - so daft best to just not dignify with a response!

Nothing negative going on here. Just an emergency service worker working hard to serve the public.