To be very nervous about moving house?

Payitforward55 · 2026-02-07T11:42:06+00:00

Looking for opinions to help me with a dilemma. We live in a very nice recently upgraded 3 bed semi. Young couple with a young child moved in about a year ago and also renovated put in wooden floors etc so we hear every step everything dropped and general living. They are not partying to all hours but the bangs are enough to wake me from my sleep and be generally annoying. My dilemma is I have always moved because I wanted a new house but any house I see in our price bracket needs work. If I move will I regret leaving the house we had renovated to suit our life or is the peace of a detached house worth it? Anyone been in the same boat?

aLFIESMA · 07/02/2026 13:41

Might some soundproofing be an option OP? A chat with a builder about what could be achieved would be worth a go, if you aren't DIYing then work on a new house can be a source of financial stress too! You may be better off saving a little longer and waiting for the 'right' one. The trouble is that once you notice an irritant (in your case noise) you begin to listen out for it, even though you know it's not malicious!

Original poster

Payitforward55 · 07/02/2026 16:31

aLFIESMA · 07/02/2026 13:41

Might some soundproofing be an option OP? A chat with a builder about what could be achieved would be worth a go, if you aren't DIYing then work on a new house can be a source of financial stress too! You may be better off saving a little longer and waiting for the 'right' one. The trouble is that once you notice an irritant (in your case noise) you begin to listen out for it, even though you know it's not malicious!

Think thats whats happening. I'm hoping with time I'll block it out.

OP posts:

asparagusffern · 07/02/2026 16:38

I think it's pretty unusual to be able to hear noises of that level from the house next door. I'd look at getting some insulation on the party wall. Not a huge job, it comes in panels and would just need a skim of plaster to finish it.

Moellen54 · 08/02/2026 19:25

Maybe you are a bit more sensitive to noise than most. But its part and parcel of modern semis. We moved to a much newer house and can hear much more of what is going on next door. Maybe give it longer then consider the panels or saving for a detached

PloddingAlong21 · 09/02/2026 05:57

This would drive me insane. Even when I go on holiday I like to be top floor as I remember on year the apartment above sounded like they were dragging chairs for hours on end.

I would move.

Sekhahdjcd · 09/02/2026 08:52

Noisy neighbours has been the bane of my life. Not all malicious, but defo could hear them all. Just moved to a detached last summer- BLISS. if you can afford it go for it

L27NE · 09/02/2026 10:02

I feel for you so much OP, we moved to our current home just over a year ago, 1950s semi but we suspect there’s no cavity in the party wall and that the joists for the suspended floor and upstairs run through both houses. We wanted wooden flooring but the minute we moved in we could hear banging and screaming from next door’s suspected ASD child and it has never really got much better. If the child is home of a weekend/holiday it’s intermittent screaming/whooping/stimming all day. He has a sensory swing he kicks off the party wall with his feet in, which thuds all throughout our house. Any time he runs or something gets dropped etc the noise and vibration of it travels through our entire house. They’ve also just had a baby so now we hear him set the baby off crying and then it just turns into a crescendo of screaming/crying/banging and the mother inevitably ends up also shouting and it’s a lot to have to put up with when you work full time and just want to have peace in your home (we really are quiet people and just want a peaceful life).

It really affects our mental health and it’s so so stressful - we’ve tried to speak with her about it and she just says it’s part of living next to a family (I think the noise is well beyond normal living noise personally).

They also don’t seem to have carpets or rugs down either which I think exacerbates the issue.

I live with white noise permanently playing on the Alexa whenever the TV and radio are not on to try and minimise the disturbance from the noise. I do have ADHD so while I don’t think my assessment of the noise is wrong as it is excessive and we’ve had visitors comment about it, I do think the way it makes me jump and I then can’t tune it out makes the impact a lot more severe.

We have decided we need to save to move to a detached house ASAP for our own sanity. I’m gutted because I sold my last house after a 4-man machete break in happened in the adjoining house and it turned out the mother had left the kids in on their own so I went in when the men had run off and the house was filthy, full of drug paraphernalia and animal faeces. I’ve been a childrens social worker in the past so was nothing I hadn’t seen before but it brought back a lot of trauma from the job and even though those tenants moved out after that, I could not face living there. I’ve come to realise any house attached to another has the potential for noise/disruption beyond what I’m willing to tolerate.

Not sure if this helps but I really do feel for you OP 🧡

AvonCallingBarksdale · 09/02/2026 10:09

We had soundproofing put in in a 1950s semi a few years ago. We just had it downstairs and it made a massive difference and probably meant we stayed in that house for another couple of years. However, we moved to a detached house 10 years ago and I would never, unless circumstances absolutely dictated it, move back to an attached house.

Original poster

Payitforward55 · 09/02/2026 18:58

L27NE · 09/02/2026 10:02

I feel for you so much OP, we moved to our current home just over a year ago, 1950s semi but we suspect there’s no cavity in the party wall and that the joists for the suspended floor and upstairs run through both houses. We wanted wooden flooring but the minute we moved in we could hear banging and screaming from next door’s suspected ASD child and it has never really got much better. If the child is home of a weekend/holiday it’s intermittent screaming/whooping/stimming all day. He has a sensory swing he kicks off the party wall with his feet in, which thuds all throughout our house. Any time he runs or something gets dropped etc the noise and vibration of it travels through our entire house. They’ve also just had a baby so now we hear him set the baby off crying and then it just turns into a crescendo of screaming/crying/banging and the mother inevitably ends up also shouting and it’s a lot to have to put up with when you work full time and just want to have peace in your home (we really are quiet people and just want a peaceful life).

It really affects our mental health and it’s so so stressful - we’ve tried to speak with her about it and she just says it’s part of living next to a family (I think the noise is well beyond normal living noise personally).

They also don’t seem to have carpets or rugs down either which I think exacerbates the issue.

I live with white noise permanently playing on the Alexa whenever the TV and radio are not on to try and minimise the disturbance from the noise. I do have ADHD so while I don’t think my assessment of the noise is wrong as it is excessive and we’ve had visitors comment about it, I do think the way it makes me jump and I then can’t tune it out makes the impact a lot more severe.

We have decided we need to save to move to a detached house ASAP for our own sanity. I’m gutted because I sold my last house after a 4-man machete break in happened in the adjoining house and it turned out the mother had left the kids in on their own so I went in when the men had run off and the house was filthy, full of drug paraphernalia and animal faeces. I’ve been a childrens social worker in the past so was nothing I hadn’t seen before but it brought back a lot of trauma from the job and even though those tenants moved out after that, I could not face living there. I’ve come to realise any house attached to another has the potential for noise/disruption beyond what I’m willing to tolerate.

Not sure if this helps but I really do feel for you OP 🧡

I know exactly what you are going through. For us its the mum is incredibly loud. I also think no rugs and minimal soft furnishings makes it worse for sure. Things constantly being dropped on laminate floors makes me jump. We will just keep looking for a detached house. 🤞

OP posts:

Original poster

Payitforward55 · 09/02/2026 19:03

AvonCallingBarksdale · 09/02/2026 10:09

We had soundproofing put in in a 1950s semi a few years ago. We just had it downstairs and it made a massive difference and probably meant we stayed in that house for another couple of years. However, we moved to a detached house 10 years ago and I would never, unless circumstances absolutely dictated it, move back to an attached house.

This is really good to know. Our house is 1950s also so maybe if we did this even in the adjoining bedrooms. I can cope ok downstairs it's upstairs and trying to sleep I struggle with

OP posts:

AvonCallingBarksdale · 09/02/2026 20:01

Payitforward55 · 09/02/2026 19:03

This is really good to know. Our house is 1950s also so maybe if we did this even in the adjoining bedrooms. I can cope ok downstairs it's upstairs and trying to sleep I struggle with

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We got pretty heavy duty soundproofing so lost a couple of inches of space, but honestly it was so worth it. I am so sensitive to noise so even found day to day life noises really hard to cope with.