Can I ask next door’s landlord to consult us?

[bobkit]

We’ve lived in our terraced house for 20 years - exactly the same length of time next door has been owned by a landlord.

Over this time he has adapted the property to maximise profit with little regard to the inconvenience caused to us - eg dividing the bedroom with which our bedroom shares a party wall into a bathroom and a small bedroom. This means we get woken up every time one of the neighbours uses the bathroom late at night or when one of them gets up at 5am (including loud throat clearing!)

Ive just found out the current renters (an extended family) are moving out next month. Is it reasonable to approach the landlord to ask him to advise us of any further changes he intends to make or AIBU? Do we have any legal recourse? TIA

I’ve asked the agent for the property adjoining mine to speak to new or prospective tenants about use of a door that is right outside my bedroom. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask - and they might be minded to avoid a complaint to licensing and speak to tenants about keeping noise down.

I don't think there is much you can do. Flushing a toilet is not an unreasonable noise. It's not like they are playing loud music in the middle of the night. Throat clearing is a normal noise surely. It sounds like the walls are really thin. You do realise if you hear them clearing their throat and flushing the toilet every time you cough, sneeze or speak they will hear you. I think it sounds like you are not picking tbh.

Is itca house in multiple occupation? Local councils have different rules on renting a house to more than one household, and there are also regulations about renting in general.
You could phone your local council to check he's not breaking any of their regulations (From what you've said he sounds like a LL that might cut corners).

Throat clearing and toilet flushing are perfectly normal household noises. Even if the landlord hadn't adapted the property, you would presumably still hearing your neighbour clearing their throat because it sounds like your walls are quite thin.

Have you looked into soundproofing the party walls?

You can buy sound proofing panels to stick on the wall .

Please read the last paragraph of my post. That's what this is about. But if you think I'm nit-picking you need to hear this guy - every morning 5am on the dot clearing his throat (not the 'ahem' polite variety!) with a really powerful hack and a spit at the end! It's our alarm call!

Buy ear phones or sound proof your bedroom (not hard to do, just stick up a false wall and stuff some sound proofing in. It's a half day job).

Ps I'm with you on annoying neighbours and you can of course ask but be prepared for him to tell you to bog off.

When you convert a room into a bathroom all those tiled surfaces and lack of sound absorbent material (mattress, carpet, bedspread, pillows, wardrobes with clothes, etc) mean that they are noisier places. People do their ablutions - toilet noises, throat clearing etc in their bathrooms. When there was a bedroom next to ours it was definitely quieter and now it's noisier - and this is because the room use has changed.

Nope, you have no rights and the noises you describe are called "daily living noises".

Trust me, there are much worse noises than toilets flushing and throat clearing.

I'm not asking about my rights. Please read my post to the end. I'm talking about how the landlord's alterations have meant we now have more noise and whether it's being unreasonable to ask him to consult us before any further modifications that affect us - eg along the party wall.

It is unreasonable - would you consult him about changes you wanted to make to your house?

As in you have no right to talk to him about alterations in his own home

Sheesh.

Sounds really annoying so sympathies but you must know it’s a non starter and what you’re asking is mad. If you fancied adding an ensuite and/or needed to reconfigure your bedrooms because you had more kids then of course you wouldn’t consult next door. For internal changes that don’t need planning to then you’d just do what suits you and that would be that. Then obviously you have party wall agreement but they’re about building damage, not getting to weigh on how next door uses their rooms.

It does sound like your house is very poorly built if you can hear what very much falls into the category of normal household noise. We’re mid terrace and I hear none of that, so I really feel for you. You could always approach the landlord about sharing the cost of soundproofing. If you hear them that minutely then they’ll be hearing yours the same so he may find he keeps his tenants longer if they can’t hear your bedroom TV, sex noises, spontaneous sneezing, marital arguments etc. etc. so it could be mutually beneficial.

What is the purpose of you saying this to him now? It sounds like the worst has happened? Are you just trying to make a point?

Yes yiu could ask but they don't have to.

The best thing to do as others have suggested is to soundproof your room from your side.

Can you check with the council that it meets building reg standards as an HMO?
id seriously think about soundproofing but that will cost you money.

is it freehold or leasehold?

What further alterations could he possibly make that would make the situation worse?

I would just buy sound proofing panels for the wall and get on with my life.

The landlord is allowed to do work and change his property as he sees fit and doesn’t need to consult or speak to anyone. Your examples fall into this. You may be annoyed but you are being unreasonable So what happens if he says he is doing loads of work and you don’t like it?

You can ask him, he can say no.

You can check the property meets all the requirements for an HMO.

You can't stop people changing use of their rooms.

You can put more sound proofing in.

The only way they are legally required is if they are seeking planning permission for an extension. Even then it's really down to the planning office etc

As long as he's not broken any planning laws, no you haven't got any rights.

I would talk to planning/building Control/Environmental health.

he may well need building regs or planning approval for what he has done and if he hasnt got it then it may need to be all taken out. And/or it may not meet the requirements for a let property

You can ask.

But he doesn't have to agree. If he does agree, tells you his plans and you dont like them... he will probably do it anyway. So what is the point?

You could ask, but he's under no obligation to tell you anything.

Poor sound insulation is a pain in the arse. You could try the council on the basis that the noise is impacting you, but realistically it's unlikely to result in any meaningful change.

Your best bet is to invest in sound insulation on your side, because this is not a problem that will go away.