Am I a bad neighbour? :/

[GM99]

I have recently bought a top floor flat in a victorian conversion in London. When I moved in, the previous owners left me a lovely note with really useful information including that the original floorboards were still in tact if I wanted to rip the carpet up. There was carpet in the hallway, on the stairs, on the landing and in the study. The carpet was pretty gross so I made the decision to have the floorboards reclaimed and someone came to rip out the carpets.

In the meantime, I met the neighbours downstairs - a couple in their 30s, no kids, he works from home full time and she works in an office full time. I've only had conversations with him. He's taken a couple of parcels in for me while I have been at work. He came across fairly relaxed and relatively friendly but I noticed he kept asking questions about what I was planning to do with the flat...which I did find a bit annoying because I got the feeling he was only talking to me to see, basically, how annoying a neighbour I was going to be rather than genuinely being friendly. He told me that the previous owners were a couple with a son with learning difficulties and the son used to bang and stamp really loudly on the floor which they found very difficult so they liaised with the neighbours who agreed to get carpet and some kind of soundproofing. I only found this out after getting the carpets ripped out. I asked him if I was noisy and he was like 'oh no no, everything is fine'. I said I didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable and that he should let me know if there were any issues.

Anyway, this morning I got a text message from him and his partner asking me to come round for drinks to discuss the flooring as they said they had noticed that it was much more noisy since I ripped the carpet out. I've agreed to go over but I'm not sure how I feel about the whole situation.

Firstly, I'm single, in my late 30s and live by myself and live a quiet lifestyle. I'm not running around having a rave every night so even though I understand they can probably hear me when I'm walking around, is it unreasonable of them to start interfering in how I decide to go my flat up - ie getting the floorboards reclaimed? What is a reasonable amount of noise for them to deal with? Given the nature of the flats and how they have been built, it's highly doubtful that all noise can be eliminated. I'm concerned they are going to try and persuade me into getting soundproofing which I can't afford. I work from home 2-3 days a week. I can understand it may have been a bit noisy recently as I have just moved in and have been getting people over to provide quotes on flooring, painting and decorating etc.

Any thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated :)

It's usually in the lease that you must have carpet.

Even if it isn't stipulated, you obviously have no idea what it's like being the downstairs neighbour to someone who doesn't have carpet.

Hint: it's horrid. You hear everything even if the upstairs neighbour creeps.

My past experience of upstairs neighbours is that they never seem to sit down.

Not in the UK and will go against what seems prevailing wisdom here. It's perfectly feasible to have soundproofing WITH hardwood floors provided there's a professional underlay. The German construction industry has an entire industrial norm devoted to this. Check what's under your floors and if you can afford it, get in a flooring company to put in a layer of insulation underneath the floor. Possibly check with your nrighbours which spaces are particularly noise sensitive?

Irrespective of what the paperwork says, just do the decent thing & have laid top quality underlay & a heavy carpet.

anything else is being a complete arse.
if you want wooden flood buy a house or a downstairs flat.

I can't imagine your lease permits bare boards. That's your first thing to ✅✅

Bare feet or slippers.

If nothing is stated in your lease 🤷‍♀️

the people you bought from have done that deliberately, to set you up as revenge on their downstairs neighbours.

That's what I read into it, too. Its a very strange thing for the previous owner to mention in an information pack. And yep, I wouldn't dream of having hard floors in a flat unless it was ground floor or basement.

of course it's POSSIBLE, but it's very expensive to have it done properly and efficiently.

I'm concerned they are going to try and persuade me into getting soundproofing which I can't afford.
it doesn't look it's an option for the OP. Carpets are the quickest and cheapest solution.

I've lived in uncarpeted flats for years and this is all news to me. Never had any complaints from the flat below...

Previous owners were clearly pissed off at downstairs neighbours and wanted to get back at them.

As pp have said, having carpet in an upstairs flat is basic courtesy even if your lease doesn’t specify it. Even if you are living quietly it is amazing how loud every footstep is from downstairs.

I doubt they want you to put down soundproofing, just carpet.

The new build flats I live in don't allow wooden floors on the first or second floor, only the ground. My partner lived in a ground floor flat, and the people who lived above sounded like a herd of elephants when they were walking around, it was awful.

The previous owners have done a very unkind thing. Deliberately annoying the people downstairs and placing you firmly in the firing line. Have a reasonable chat with the neighbours and share honestly that the previous owners actually suggested it.

Your neighbors want to talk to you because they say the noise from your flat has increased since you removed the carpet. They might be worried that it's too noisy for them.
It's okay to make normal noises when you walk around or do everyday things. But it's also important to be nice to your neighbors and not be too loud.
You can talk to your neighbors about when it's okay to make more noise and when you should be quieter. Maybe you can put rugs on the floor to help reduce noise. If you can afford it, you could also think about making some parts of your flat quieter.

I feel your neighbours pain.

my neighbours moved in and I heard them say the house was brilliant - wooden floors throughout. It was floorboards!

the noise was horrendous. I could hear everything - even the man of the house peeing!!! Every conversation bounced off all the walls. I knew how often they had sex - every conversation they had, every tv programme they watched - I could tell you which room each of them was ere in at any given time.

the previous owners had carpets and rugs - I had no idea how much they dampened the noise until they were gone.

Why would they have a lease? It specifically states that the OP bought the flat, therefore can do as they like.

You don't sound at all unreasonable, but you just need to see the other point of view.

Check what is required in your lease. In any case, if soundproofing would be too expensive now, maybe look at getting rugs that will block much of the sound for your neighbours.

I'm sorry but yes, I'm afraid that you are a bad neighbour. I know you didn't do it on purpose, but it will be making a big difference to your neighbours' quality of life.

You should put carpets back in - and no, rugs aren't really a proper solution.

A flat is communal living, you either buy it freehold or leasehold but even as a freehold there can still be certain covenants on the property.
OP can’t do what she likes just because she bought it.

No one is talking about a rental lease.

Flats are often leasehold.

Throw us a bone and tell us what your lease says.

Yep. Rugs don't help at all. Only wall to wall carpet with thick underlay.

@Aquamarine1029 😂

I used to live below someone with floorboards above…. They were lovely but we could hear EVERY SINGLE STEP. All the time.
If she went to the loo at night, it would wake me up. I always knew exactly what room she was in and what she was doing. It is truly hard/impossible to live with and I could never relax.

Why have you given your number to strangers?