Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Neighbour pain

19 replies

Smileyoriley · 27/03/2022 07:57

We recently bought a terraced house in a village and quickly realised we have a nuisance neighbour- he is a tenant.
You would not know he's there for 90% of the time but 3-4 times a month, usually at the weekend, he has a few mates round and they party loudly until 5 or 6 in the morning. Music full blast and loud talking.
Apparently this caused problem with previous neighbours of his, once resulting in police being called out.
I've just had another sleepless night and it's starting to affect me badly.
Any thoughts or experiences welcome!

OP posts:
Frostylaudanum · 27/03/2022 08:01

Ask him to keep the noise down?

Smileyoriley · 27/03/2022 08:10

Sadly this was tried by the previous neighbour hence police being called out.

OP posts:
lightnesspixie · 27/03/2022 08:15

Hi
I feel your pain. When we bought our first flat (a conversion on the ground floor) we had a small baby and the guy who owned the flat above let a guy who had lived a travelling nomadic lifestyle move in on benefits. He slept all day and at night it was party time and/or he would play his guitar. There was such little sound proofing that we could hear the messages on their answerphone. After a particularly unpleasant night where my husband cut their power off (from sheer desperation after months of asking/pleading for more consideration) and there was almost a physical altercation .. we were in that flat for 19 months and were heartbroken to have to leave. But for our sanity and safety (escalation worries) we had to. Good luck with this you have my every sympathy it is a tricky and unpleasant situation.

lightnesspixie · 27/03/2022 08:17

(Ps - I thought when you sell a house you have to declare to the buyers any neighbour disputes)

ChoiceMummy · 27/03/2022 08:22

Report to the landlord or letting agents.
Report to environmental health.

autienotnaughty · 27/03/2022 08:25

When I bought my old house the previous owners had all sorts of issues with neighbours over boundaries they never said a word! The neighbours told me after we moved in . Luckily we got on fine, the other neighbours were awful tho!

Smileyoriley · 27/03/2022 14:20

Thanks everyone.
We're going to try to reason with him then
phone the letting agent tomorrow and speak to the solicitor who did our conveyancing to see where we stand. Otherwise tempted to cut our losses and move before things get out of hand and we will be stuck here forever!

OP posts:
OneTC · 27/03/2022 14:25

the guy who owned the flat above let a guy who had lived a travelling nomadic lifestyle move in on benefits.

Grin
user1471538283 · 27/03/2022 17:29

I really feel for you. Tell him to stop. Then keep on reporting him. But if your council are anything like ours it will not do anything. If you make enough fuss with the letting agent he might stop. Keep saying quiet enjoyment which includes if the landlord knows it's a problem and does nothing he is liable.

But also look to move. Some people dont care.

Smileyoriley · 27/03/2022 17:58

Thanks User. Yes have calmed down a bit even though Mother’s Day was ruined, but have a plan of action and your suggestions are very helpful.
Ultimately I have a horrible feeling this will end up in us moving. He doesn’t know it but he’s pushed me closer to a breakdown. My husband and I have poor health and have a DGS with terminal cancer and this is just another nail…

OP posts:
ukborn · 27/03/2022 22:30

It's the landlords responsibility to deal with this so report him to the Lettings agent and keep doing so. I am a landlord and had to get rid of someone who was a nuisance.

Smileyoriley · 27/03/2022 22:39

Thanks UKB- good to hear from a landlords perspective.

OP posts:
Cherrysoup · 27/03/2022 23:03

@ukborn

It's the landlords responsibility to deal with this so report him to the Lettings agent and keep doing so. I am a landlord and had to get rid of someone who was a nuisance.
I don’t think it’s anything to do with the landlord, actually. I wanted to support my tenant when he was having issues with the neighbour but was told I couldn’t get involved. He had mediation offered, neighbour refused, ultimately turned out to she had mental health issues and has since sold up.

Go back to the estate agent and ask if there were issues raised and if s, why weren’t you notified. (My vendor admitted to major issues post sale-turned out she was my tenant’s dc’s teacher 😱 but didn’t report so she could sell 🤬)

Having been through a year of horrific neighbour issues myself-bloke punched me when I politely asked if he would mind turning down his music, my only resolution was to move. I was devastated, it was my first home that me and my dh had bought.

Cherrysoup · 27/03/2022 23:05

If my tenant was a problem to the neighbours, then yes, they’d be breathe rules of the tenancy and I’d get rid, but if the in situ neighbours caused issues to my tenant, I don’t think there’s anything I could do to control their behaviour.

Smileyoriley · 28/03/2022 07:13

Cherrysoup it is their tenant causing problems to us, as he did to previous neighbours living the other side of him. His partying kept their children awake all night on multiple occasions. They moved after physical violence and police involvement.
I'm contacting the letting agent and the solicitor who acted for us in the purchase today.

OP posts:
Lunalicious · 28/03/2022 07:35

Unless the old owners actually reported the noise or had some offical dispute with the neighbours they won't have had to report anything in their seller's pack.

LakieLady · 28/03/2022 08:02

Have you actually asked him to turn it down at a reasonable hour? And, if so, how has he responded? Until you've spoken to him, and he's failed to keep it down, there's not really much you can do. Sometimes it's best to have the conversation after the event, when no-one's had a drink and tempers have cooled.

When you have spoken to him, and if things fail to improve, report to Environmental Health at the council. They have a statutory duty to deal with noise nuisance. Ours will at least send a warning letter (there are 3, the final one threatens prosecution).

Before you do that though, it's worth keeping a "noise diary", including dates, times, nature of noise and it's impact on you as a family, eg kids awake most of the night, too tired to go to school, etc. The noise nuisance team here won't take any action until they have a list of incidents, so you can pre-empt that by gathering it now. And include when you asked him to keep it quieter/finish earlier, and how he responded.

My council seems to have a threshold where they're much more likely to do something if the noise goes on past 3 am, more than once a month, and if it's on week nights. And they're very good about dealing with noise from barking dogs, because that tends to be daily, so there's no debate to be had about how often it's reasonable to have a party.

Speaking to the agents might do some good, especially if his landlord is the type to be bothered by impact on neighbours, but many don't give a toss what their tenants do as long as they pay the rent and don't trash the place.

The police here won't do anything at all about noise, they'll only turn out if things get violent. We couldn't get the police to come out when a group of drunken teens were shouting and screaming in the street and vandalising cars at 1 am. Even when one of them lobbed a can of beer at my neighbour, cutting his head, they only came and took a statement 2 or 3 days later and of course, no-one knew which of them had done it.

I hope things improve, OP.

Smileyoriley · 28/03/2022 09:33

Thanks Luna. One of the reasons I'm tempted to just cut and run. Housing market is red hot at the moment and I don't think I can stand this much longer. Only problem is it's likely to be further away from my adult children and grandchildren( including the eight year old with cancer) as this was all we could afford in the area. Our neighbour from hell is no spring chicken and I can't see him going anytime soon!
Lakie every time he sees me he legs it, have tried knocking but he just ignores it.

OP posts:
NigellaLawdaughter · 28/03/2022 15:11

@LakieLady

Have you actually asked him to turn it down at a reasonable hour? And, if so, how has he responded? Until you've spoken to him, and he's failed to keep it down, there's not really much you can do. Sometimes it's best to have the conversation after the event, when no-one's had a drink and tempers have cooled.

When you have spoken to him, and if things fail to improve, report to Environmental Health at the council. They have a statutory duty to deal with noise nuisance. Ours will at least send a warning letter (there are 3, the final one threatens prosecution).

Before you do that though, it's worth keeping a "noise diary", including dates, times, nature of noise and it's impact on you as a family, eg kids awake most of the night, too tired to go to school, etc. The noise nuisance team here won't take any action until they have a list of incidents, so you can pre-empt that by gathering it now. And include when you asked him to keep it quieter/finish earlier, and how he responded.

My council seems to have a threshold where they're much more likely to do something if the noise goes on past 3 am, more than once a month, and if it's on week nights. And they're very good about dealing with noise from barking dogs, because that tends to be daily, so there's no debate to be had about how often it's reasonable to have a party.

Speaking to the agents might do some good, especially if his landlord is the type to be bothered by impact on neighbours, but many don't give a toss what their tenants do as long as they pay the rent and don't trash the place.

The police here won't do anything at all about noise, they'll only turn out if things get violent. We couldn't get the police to come out when a group of drunken teens were shouting and screaming in the street and vandalising cars at 1 am. Even when one of them lobbed a can of beer at my neighbour, cutting his head, they only came and took a statement 2 or 3 days later and of course, no-one knew which of them had done it.

I hope things improve, OP.

@LakieLady, That was a really helpful, informative post. Thank you for writing that. Star 👍

@OP, it doesn't seem likely that things will improve anytime soon, so perhaps you should sell asap. You might somehow find something better than you think. 🍀
Also, I am so very sorry to hear about your dear grandson. I know you said terminal, but I shall pray otherwise, and hope he fully recovers. 🙏❤️

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread