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 :(

I would take the helicopters over the super cars any day.

You need to check your lease agreement re. sounds and also re. flooring.

We lived in a similar block and new neighbours moved into the unit above us and had wooden floors installed. I am not quite sure how the porter and staff team did not see the flooring come into the building but it was in all of our lease agreements that all flooring must be carpeted apart from kitchen and bathroom. We actually put up with it mostly (although we did ask they remove their shoes if possible when coming in late at night), however, there were workmen in our flat and the Porter / Building Manager came in, heard the noise and hit the roof.

I'm kind of glad we left as I wondered if they thought we had complained. So firstly, do check lease agreements and speak to management agencies etc.

Do you think the helicopter noise is objectively worse where you are than before? (You said you hadn’t moved far I believe) If not significantly, then it’s clear it’s more related to to heightened awareness with stress and anxiety.

I think it would help if you had music on wherever you are in the flat. So have a radio that you can put on in each room as you enter the room.

I think this will mask out a lot of the noises until you get used to them.

[quote LeonieLondon]@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[/quote]
I should add after moving around houses and flats ( I was born and raised in London also) The least noise pollution came from semi detached buildings with only a few flats or a semi detached house

Ultimately in London, its such a premium to buy detached, the next best thing is semi.

Having only one side with people does really help, close-proximity living rather than structure issues is the key noise problems with all city living.

Having one side to deal with means just that.

I used to live Holland Park way, so no helicopter sounds apart from the odd police or news. Now southish end of kings road end. But to be honest i think the helicopter noise is something i could get used to but i get triggered by anything now.
I just got back to the flat and i could literally hear neighbours boilers as i walked through the front door of the building. My brain is cooking

@Grida

I think it might be anxiety over buying a new place and spending so much money. I had the same thing when I bought a property(totally stressed about tube noise, neighbours etc.) I didn’t notice any noise when I was renting. I would give it 6months to a year before spending any money on soundproofing. I researched loads of sound proofing solutions and got people to quote but delayed going ahead with it. After a while I stopped noticing the noise and now I think it is pretty quiet and that it was largely a reaction to the stress of moving and parting with all that money.

I agree. When we first moved into our house, I would lay awake at night totally freaked out by every squeak and creak. We had moved from a busy road and semi detached house to a detached house on a very quiet street. I think that you’re just not used to the noises your flat makes yet.

I also lived in NYC many years ago, and it would always take a while for the quiet of The Hamptons (summer) to seem normal, then back to NYC with what seemed like police and ambulance sirens going every few minutes all night. My apartment backed onto a hospital, but I really didn’t usually notice it.

At the person saying drum and bass is unacceptable- what the hell?! You can play the music in your own home

Your flat sounds wonderful and I am extremely envious!!

Don't be downhearted, a lot of your worries will resolve in time. The noisy renters will move when their tenancy ends or they get evicted for breaking the regulations.

Having spent so much money on your home, invest in soundproofing, it really will make a difference. Other pp have suggested wall hangings, bookcases, carpets, blinds - all of these will help.

Good luck and enjoy your fabulous new home in my favourite city.

@melmos

At the person saying drum and bass is unacceptable- what the hell?! You can play the music in your own home

Not if it is prohibited by the lease of the flat

Cant have a pet
Cant play music
Must have carpeting etc etc

Just make sure you tell any buyers about the neighbour/sound problem - it’s unfair to then otherwise.

@melmos

At the person saying drum and bass is unacceptable- what the hell?! You can play the music in your own home

Yes, I agree Any music is fine as long as neighbours can't hear it

OP it sounds like a lovely flat, but I'm amazed you haven't been down there already to ask them to turn the music down!

It might not work, but it might.

Soundproofing material along the wall with the adjacent boiler will help.

I'm very confused by the poster saying you cam get SDLT back if you move again, that can't be correct.

When I was a teenager, we lived very near a church where the bells rang out all the time (day and night). They drove us crazy initially, but we stopped hearing them within the first year.

Give it some time, to see if you can get used to it.

OP I would say don't rule out a move to a house - you'll have the budget for something really nice outwith London, it doesn't have to be dullsville suburbia.
I am genuinely noise-phobic so I'd probably be driven mad at a fraction of the disturbance you're enduring, and my detached home is one of my life's greatest joys. And I am in dull suburbia despite no kids, but my budget is far smaller than yours and it doesn't bother me.

Agree flat sounds ace

Get a plumber in. Insulate everywhere

@LeonieLondon

I used to live Holland Park way, so no helicopter sounds apart from the odd police or news. Now southish end of kings road end. But to be honest i think the helicopter noise is something i could get used to but i get triggered by anything now. I just got back to the flat and i could literally hear neighbours boilers as i walked through the front door of the building. My brain is cooking

You do realise that you don't live in Kensington?

Despite your flat costing 22.5 times more than mine I really sympathise.

It might reassure you that I got used to my building noise in a couple of months (doors, my boiler, their kitchen fan, squeaky floors) and when they went away during lockdown I found the silence unsettling! Music I've never got used to. I asked them to turn it down late at night and they do, although they still play it loud during the day. It seems a reasonable compromise but it is extremely wearing.

I'd speak to the neighbours and not soundproof yet as it can be unreliable in old buildings, give it a couple of months and in the meantime think how you can add value to the flat if you sell it, to recoup some of the stamp duty.

I would give it 6 months, go for some of the cheaper measures suggested here and see how you feel.

We once rented a beautifully refurbed semi in Windsor and within 2 days realised just how bad it was on the flight path— when we viewed it, must have been a rare day when flights were coming in on the other runway— I could cope with it during the day but at 4.40am and 12.15am , it was totally unbearable for hours at a time. Absolutely ear splitting— after 6 months of no sleep I told the agent we were using our break clause, we actually went then to East twickenham, - which is still on flight path but was nothing like as bad.

It’s not worth your sanity OP but try a few measures first. For that money you paid maybe look at a mews house in another London area or a semi— doesn’t mean you have to go to the suburbs— there can’t be much in it between say your flat and a 3 bed house in say Fulham or Putney (just examples)

@Westfacing don’t be a tit

@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 :(

I would do all you can to the flat first because when you come to sell it, if that's what you chose to do you have to inform the estate agent of the issues you've had. Which I'm guessing the former owners didn't do. So I'd recommend try and improve, put your own stamp on it etc and fingers crossed that goes well. You could also sound proof the walls as well as the floor?.

move

@Westfacing i very much live in Kensington. I said rough area, as i don’t want to be identified.

I know someone who had a noisy boiler and moved within a year!

[quote LeonieLondon]@Westfacing i very much live in Kensington. I said rough area, as i don’t want to be identified.[/quote]
You do realise that you don't live in Kensington?

Sound like somewhere round Queens Gate- that's Kensington

I'm not really bothered where you live but just pointing out that if you're near the heliport you can't be in Kensington! If you're roughly southern end of the Kings Road you might be bothered by by the helicopters on the river, but it's not Kensington.

Queen's Gate? That's nowhere near the river!