Bought a flat from hell. What now?

[LeonieLondon]

I changed name and posting here to get more advice. Sorry long post
I recently bought what I thought was my dream flat in Kensington. For the past 14 years i have worked hard and saved most of my money. finally got on a property ladder with my dp (soon to be dh). We were renting a very similar type of place for the past 3 years (a flat in a mansion block) and had a very good experience- no noise from neighbours, no disasters in the flat, no leaks, generally no problems.
Turns out my new dream flat in a ‘sought after and prestigious mansion block’ has got zero sound insulation, there are not only every day neighbour noises (tv, chatter, laughing) coming from right, left and below (we are top floor, i insisted on a top floor flat because i thought i wouldn’t hear the neighbours…)

• I can hear my neighbours boilers from every direction, imagine constant very loud amplified humming in your ear
• below neighbours are fans what seems to be drum and bass and i hear bass noise coming from their place every day
• said neighbours make my floor and walls shake when they walk- is this a structural fault? I can be sitting in my bed or on a sofa and it literally shakes
• i am pretty sure they can also hear us stomp even though we are quiet

-there is a gas meter in a cupboard of one of the bedrooms which makes a very loud ticking/clicking sound every 2 seconds, again so loud and amplified. It would be impossible to sleep there or work while heating is on or someone turns hot water on (never even noticed this when viewing, but having lived in a bedroom with a boiler cupboard in it i wouldn’t even suspect that would be a problem) I am not even THAT sensitive to noise but i feel i am spiralling into paranoia.

• the fucking helicopters?!?! There is a heliport in battersea over the other side of the river…

We are meant to be putting new floor with sound proofing but given that neighbours play drum and bass i think the sound will travel through walls and chimneys anyway?
I don’t want to be here, it’s a complete disaster. I am now paranoid about every sound and movement
Any advice please? Move? Wait? Do i even bother changing the floors, spending £15k+ on new floors only to discover no noise change?
I feel like this mansion block compared with the one i lived is so flimsy.
I feel no joy from buying anything new for the house- it shouldn’t be like this :(

You have carpet in your flat but others in the building don't. Does your lease stipulate carpets? If so, then that will be the same with the other flats.
Can you find out also (someone else will know) if the previous owners ever raised issues of noise with the management?

So am I right in thinking that the gas meter noise is in the study? Is it a very old fashioned gas meter? My old one used to tick quite loudly but I have a smart meter and don't notice it anymore. I would also consider if you could sit e.g. an arm chair up against the cupboard door or anything - that might muffle the noise?

Does the cupboard door seal at the edges? If not putting some of the foam that forms a seal might be a worthwhile thing to attempt as an easy interim measure as well - my boiler is disturbingly loud if the cupboard door is open but with it shut it moves into being background noise.

I'd also consider if you can use any background noise like headspace do an 8 hour sound track of waves etc which I sometimes use if I am finding the noise of the dishwasher etc distracting.

Pilkington acoustic glass has worked well at cutting out traffic noise for me. I also have a roller blind and heavy curtains. Apparently, secondary glazing works even better but I needed to change my UPVC frames anyway.
Thick carpet and underlay is not actually very expensive in the grand scheme so I would try that too.

See if the gas meter can be changed for a newer, quieter one. Perhaps ask your gas supplier.

I'm surprised as I've always thought mansion blocks were very solidly built. I lived in one for a bit and never heard my neighbours.

I live in a converted Victorian house now and next door soundproofed their wall (condition by the council in converting a house to flats) and it makes a big difference. I can hear a bit of music occasionally but not very often but it's not loud at all and if I could hear it loudly, I would ask them to turn it down and contact their landlord if it became a problem. I also have soundproofing above me. Again, some noise seeps through but not enough to bother me. It's really worth going to a proper soundproofing company and looking at the options. You should also talk to the landlord of the tenants downstairs. Record the noise your phone and send them a clip. I expect you can do something about the boiler. Your flat sounds gorgeous and once you have dealt with the major problems, I hope you can stay and enjoy it.

The market in Central London is not sticky so OP wouldn't lose out by selling now

This is a big problem with many flats and terraces in London (probably not just London) - not just conversions but also mansion blocks. In my experience the sound insulation is very poor compared to similar buildings in other countries. It’s fine if you have quiet, considerate neighbours - but not if your neighbours play loud music etc.

I also lived for a few years in what I thought was the perfect flat in a lovely area but I hated it in the end. Most of the other residents were unhappy too - either because they were suffering from noise or because they were having to deal with complaints about noise. I ended up selling and moving into a terrace. It’s not perfect but better.

Give it a bit of time and see how things are.

@AnnaSW1

Oops!

*previously

*peeing

Bloody phone

I honestly thought you meant "hear people seeing..."and it was whole new level of lack of soundproofing.

Move.
My friend bought a house and was driven crazy by one Fan from the flat below
She took the hit
She moved
It’s done with and she never has to think about it again

We had a new build 2 bed flat in Islington which we sold about 10 years ago and it was exactly the same, you could hear absolutely everything! At night lying in bed you could hear people peeing, and the girl next doors tv constantly woke DD up. We changed our floors but to be honest the sounds came from all around as well a below.

Talking to the neighbours may not get you far. I had neighbours with doof doof music thrumming through the ceiling non-stop & asked them to take their speakers off the floor. I was desperate for sleep having just had a baby... I got short shrift from the tenant who informed me that she 'worked at an investment bank' and would basically do as she liked.

I then offered to pay her to turn it off. That didn't work either.
Resorted to noise-cancelling headphones. Now in a house which is thankfully much more soundproof.

@MarineBlue33

The market in Central London is not sticky so OP wouldn't lose out by selling now

She paid £68k in stamp duty The market is low in most places.

Where in central London is increasing? Assume she paid about £1,250,00. Where are flats that sold or that a few months ago now £68k more plus the new stamp duty on another flat say another £68K

Sell it and get out ASAP

Life is too short.

OP, let’s say you sell the flat. Then what?
Where are you going to go?
You’ve ruled out houses and (mercifully silent) suburbia.
You could buy a flat in Chelsea or Notting hill and have exactly the same issues …. or worse.
Not sure how you expect to have quiet living in any other flat?

@Gladioli23 yes the gas meter is in a study. Didn’t know there were new generation gas meters that don’t make sound- i will investigate thank you.

Have you considered calling your environmental Health team? Drum and bass is not acceptable.

Could you rent it out and rent somewhere more like your old flat to live in? At least that way you're not losing any money and you'll still benefit from the investment in the long term.

It sounds like a stunning flat but the noise would bother me too. I’d speak to the landlord of the other flat and see what they say. Maybe the tenant are leaving soon?

Could you afford a house in another area but still central?

I would stay! You have an amazing property in a fabulous location, you will get used to some of the noise and in the meantime invest heavily in some seriously good sound proofing options.

@capricorn12

Could you rent it out and rent somewhere more like your old flat to live in? At least that way you're not losing any money and you'll still benefit from the investment in the long term.

You pay income tax on rent, even more if a higher rate tax payer. Rents are usually higher than mortgages

You would usually have to spend considerably more per month to do this

@Bootikin that’s exactly my dilemma. What if this happens again? I wasn’t even ruling out zones 4-5 in a lively neighbourhood but my dp is adamant he only wants to live in Kensington or thereabouts. And to be honest i was really happy here too for the past 10+ years

But thank you everyone for the input, it helps so much

Don’t underestimate what proper acoustic underlay and new flooring can do! I’d recommend carpet because that’s absorbs even more sound and vibrations and get a really top of the line underlay. It might be a total game changer. Most mansion blocks has rules in the lease about flooring. My friend in battersea for example can’t have hard wood without consent form neighbours below etc. Good luck! I also don’t think it’s going to cost 15k to do this stuff - much less. So definitely go down that route before selling imo x

I hope you can make it work. Your home should be your sanctuary x

I am v curious to know which part of Kensington is on the river and near the heliport. (it's hammersmith, isn't it OP?)

@TheHoptimist

Laughing a bit at the helicopters Live not to far away- before were moved in I was told by the neighbours that I asked on the street that the helicopters were the biggest downside to living there.

TBF, I lived in Battersea very close to the heliport and got very used to the helicopters. The OP’s ticking boilers and neighbours music would drive me mad though

(Battersea Reach is silent most of the time! But isn’t Kensington.)