Another neighbour post

[Lesleyann25]

I am having an ongoing problem with my downstairs neighbour. My daughter and I moved into a large apartment in December it’s a really good area and we like it here.

It started as soon as we moved in, there is a lady in her 60s with her adult son about 20. It appears the son stays up all night and sleeps all day and games under my room until around 4am shouting at the screen. I spoke to lady she was very nice said she would tell him to keep it and down and went on a long spiel about him having mental health problems and waiting for a diagnosis for autism so I have tried to cut them a bit of slack but it really isn’t on I have to listen to podcasts to sleep. What has really annoyed me is that my daughters bedroom door is a bit stiff so it makes a bit of noise when she closes it in the mornings but I am talking about 8am, we are out all day and go to bed by 10 as I have work too.

Now the son has started slamming doors at 4am I am assuming in revenge so I have reported them to the council. Autism and mental health is not a reason to keep other people up all night surely? I think it’s completely out of order. She said he has insomnia too. Anyone else dealt with this?

I am not speaking about it with certainty I am admitting I am not expert. I have friend diagnosed in her 40s but she doesn’t go around keeping everyone up all night and never did. If I slept all day I’d be awake all night goes without saying. there is not a peep until around 6pm im the evenings from them.

Then I will move but not without trying first.

Concentrate on what you can do in the immediate future. Try to learn techniques on how to sleep through noise. It really worked for me as I had no choice as day noise when you work nights is not something you can police.

The HA I worked for was unable to get a possession order for a tenant who caused no end of neighbour nuisance that went way beyond noise nuisance. They got a lawyer from a housing advice charity who stressed their vulnerability due to long term MH issues of such severity that they constituted a disability, and the judge declined to issue the order because the HA had not put reasonable adjustments in place.

They moved voluntarily a couple of years later though, when their child was placed permanently with one of their parents, and they were stung by the "bedroom tax".

Yes I will. It’s the only thing I can do at the
moment.

Maybe work from home for a week and make as much noise as you can throughout the day while he is sleeping. Some nice loud music. See how he likes it.

Yes, all councils' environmental health departments have Class 1 sound-level meters for measuring noise, and your council could place one of these in your bedroom for, say, a week to measure the noise caused by your neighbour's son.
According to the UK government's website, the Noise Act 1996 defines night hours as between 11 pm and 7 am, and noise levels exceeding 34 dBA during these hours can be considered a nuisance, especially if the background noise is less than 24 dBA. (If the background noise exceeds 24 dBA, 10 dBA above the background level is considered the limit.)
I guess someone could get an autism diagnosis later in life if they've not pursued one sooner, but the fact that he quietened down for a few weeks after one of your conversations with his mother suggests that, even if he does have autism, it isn't so severe that he can't exercise self-control over the amount of noise he makes. And as PPs have commented, his poor mental health is no excuse for routinely disturbing your sleep so that your mental health is affected.

Without wishing to sound like a serial moaner I had quite a few issues when I lived in my lovely, but very noisy flat.

I lived quite happily next to a pub for many years. Then someone new took over with a different crowd, & my life was never the same. I spent years filling in a diary 🙄 & won each long battle, but when someone new moved in it would start up again. If it wasn’t fighting in the street, it would be loud music, or their dog barking 24/7. Before anyone says anything, if you can hear the words to a song it’s too loud! Music I can handle, bass I cannot.

Then there was the man below who did DIY throughout the night. Who, hammers at 4am? I got so sick of it that I used to wait until he’d gone quiet & dive off my bed to wake the noisy bastard. V childish I know, but he drove me to this. I did move for various reasons as well as my own sanity. I also feared I would get violent towards him, & it wouldn’t end well for either of us. His new neighbour’s now moaning about him.

I got the impression throughout all of this that the council weren’t that interested. It was one diary after another. Then when I phoned to speak to environmental health the person dealing with it had left, so I’d begin my diary again.

Stick at it OP! If they do get evicted, councils no longer have to rehouse.

Tried that. Not even loud music just enough to make him see how it feels to be woken up. He blasted music right back for 3 days solid.

Please call the police to report someone smoking weed in their own home. They could probably do with a laugh 😂

This is a very good point

On what basis do you comment "The council isn't going to do shit"? How do you know?
The council's EH dept can measure the noise in OP's bedroom and if it exceeds 34dBA between 11pm and 7am, it would be a statutory noise nuisance and the council can then issue the neighbour with a noise abatement notice, which the 20yr-old's mother would be foolish to ignore if she doesn't want to risk losing her home (although why the mother doesn't just switch off her router box at night is anybody's guess!). Yes, it takes a long time, but the council certainly won't do anything if OP doesn't complain (and complaining doesn't stop OP taking other measures to minimise the effect the noise has on her in the meantime).

Someone did that to someone I know and they got charged with possession. Would you like your 11 year having weed smell filling thier home. Isn’t pleasant

OP's posted twice that she "did speak to the mother and it did stop for weeks" so it hardly sounds like he can't control his night-time antics.

The mother promised me she had found some cheap sound proof cladding that she was going to fit. No way has that happened. I feel for her but she’s not helping things.

My son has autism and yes he shouts when he games but even though he’s 11 he knows when he’s getting to loud. He’s learned that if I go in and tell him to quiet down then next time il not tell him that it just gets turned off. My partner in his 30s has now learned the same thing and it’s simply because I have respect for my neighbours.

My last neighbour was banging on my wall for my then 10 year old laughing and joking with her friend on the phone at 5pm. That’s unreasonable not this.

This is my point exactly and your son is 11 not 20.

Hey I'm on your side I'm in a council flat and it stanks of other people's weed

EXACTLY this. 👆 OP's neighbour could turn off their router box at 11pm so her son can't game during the night.

I wouldn't back down either, I'd be knocking on the door in the middle of the night telling the mother to make him be quiet.
That and the weed is anti social behaviour, can you speak to their landlord and explain the situation?

Well OP how about this? Since you say the noise calmed down for a few weeks after you told the mun, why not go down again and say that you have had enough and if this doesn’t stop you have been advised to involve the council and have an EH meter installed. Then explain the rules of noise and if EH get repeated readings they can everntually go down the route of eviction. Maybe see if there is anything on your councils website and print it out for her so that she can see it. Tell her you don’t want this to happen but you may not have another choice. Her move.

Maybe worth a shot?Dont lie or tell her anything that isn’t true but inform her of your intentions and the potential consequences. If she talks about her son with suspected autism tell he you understand but that doesn’t equate to his being quiet for a few weeks and unfortunately you have a minor in your house so while autism is a reason to be accommodating so is safeguarding a minor in your home.

I may be wrong - maybe others can comment….

Gross isn’t it.

I have already said all of that. The noise was so bad when I went back to work after Christmas he had friends round and it literally sounded like they were bouncing off all ways and shrieking with laughter and you could hear the other gamers shrieking too i went down at 6am that day after not a wink. Wouldn’t open the door not even the mother.

Have you suggested to the mother that she turns off their internet router at 11pm so her selfish son can't game throughout the night?