Neighbour dispute - cooking smells/ noise - advice needed

[Sammyham]

We live in a small apartment which has a shared hallway with one other apartment whom leave their front door open almost continuously apart from late on a night when they finally close it.

Our neighbour cooks extremely strong fragranced foods, her kitchen is probably less than ten meters from our front door and is causing our entire apartment to fill and linger with her cooking smells, it's getting really stressful as it is so potent and clings to our carpets, clothes etc, it really is that stomach churning that on the rare occasion we were able to have a lay in the stench woke us up and coming in after work when the windows have been closed is starting to fill us with dread as we immediately have to come in, try and air our place out and clean so we can actually enjoy our home without feeling like we're sat in the middle of a tip.

We've asked on multiple occasions, trying to be as polite as possible for her to close her door whilst cooking to minimise the smell into our apartment, turn on her cooker fan etc but she either smiles and nods and then ignores us or as she does now, completely ignores us. I know it's not right but I've even shouted at her to please close her door and sprayed febreze into her apartment, I've even complained to the agency we're with but there's still been no change at all.

This is all along side the fact that her living room/ TV is pretty much outside our front door/ living room and she enjoys watching and conversing at ear splitting levels to the point we can't relax or hear our television without also having it at uncomfortable level to drown her out.

We're at our wits end and won't be able to move for another eleven months, sorry for such a long post and thank you in advance for any advice given on how to deal with this situation.

I'd just call through you've forgotten to shut the door and shut it each time I pass tbh. You've tried being polite and its clearly not worked. At least you have a countdown until you can move.

Also put a towel along the bottom of your door after going through each time to stop as much smell getting through

Does she understand what you mean when you tell her?

I'd close the door every time too until she gets the idea. Do you have the same landlord /management agency?

Can you make some sort of complaint that the door being open all the time is a fire risk? Not sure to who, presuming you rent so most likely the freeholder of the building or alternatively your letting agent/landlord. The TV thing, if it’s after a certain time then you can report to your council’s noise team, I’d definitely do that as soon as possible. In the meantime try and seal up any gaps along the front your door, open all your windows at the other side of your flat and get a fan to circulate the fresh air (my DAunt lived next to a border whose apartment stank to high heaven and those are her top tips).

Do you have a break clause in your lease that would allow to escape in 6 months by any chance?

Oh and an essential oil burner with citrus oils like lemon or lime are pretty good at neutralising food smells, get one for your living room.

I would keep shutting her door and report her to the council for both the smell and noise.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

I wouldn't feel comfortable closing her front door as I'd have to step/ reach into her flat and fear she'd end up with more legal rights if this went further, also get the impression she would just open it straight away anyway as she seems to view the hallway as an extension to her flat (has her washing drying there) and that we're the ones who are the inconvenience by having to use it to get in to our property.

She definitely understands what I'm saying as I've heard her speaking clear English, have also been to the agency but it's one guy who deals with our building who thinks butter wouldn't melt in her mouth and basically doesn't know how to handle the situation/ can't be bothered doing anything about it/ hopes we'll eventually shut up and stop bothering him.

Have tried putting a towel at the bottom of the door which helped a little but the type of food she cooks and how close her kitchen is to our front door, it's impossible to block the stench out, we've tried a variety of air fresheners/ solutions etc which is costing us a small fortune but unless we're in all day trying to combat the smell nothing seems to really mask or keep it out.

Have wrote to the council about the noise issue but was unable to find where to log an issue over the smell which is the one affecting us most

Also moving out isn't an option, even if we were able to shorten our lease to 6 months we currently wouldn't have the time or finances to do so...plus it seems ridiculously unfair that we'd be forced to move out because of how inconsiderate she is

Spray strong air freshener into the hall?

Your council must have a nuisance neighbour department that deals with more than noise, call their switchboard and ask.

I would put your complaint in writing to her and to the agency, send it by recorded delivery too so they can't deny getting it.

I would keep a diary of all the noise and smells when it starts and changes throughout the day. Also, record how she is using the hallway. Basically anything that affects your life negatively, within reason.

I would then every fortnight (or week if it was really bad) send a copy of that diary to the agency.

Once you have 3-4 weeks diary together, l would send that diary to the council.

I would also put in the letter to her and to the agency that you are saving all receipts for the products you are using and buying because of her nuisance and that if it is not dealt with in a swift manner than I would be looking at claiming those back.

You can't live like that, what a selfish witch.

The council will say stage one is you speak to her, you've tried and stage two is you write to her. Complete those first and keep copies of all letters and note in the diary when you sent them.

Shame you haven't got a cat/dog/small child who would irritatingly wander in on her.

I'd say your best bet would be going down the potential fire hazard risks. Her front door should act as a fire door, and if she's keeping it open, she's exposing herself and you to greater risk. You could try the Fire Brigade direct, and mention it to the Landlord.

Also involve the council.

^ yes!!! The legalities of the fire door being open are huge, the agency and landlord ignoring that would be taken to court if anything were to happen due to that.

Mention the fire door issue in your letters!

How weird that she has her door open with no concerns for security! I'd make a complaint to building management about her using the hall as her personal laundrette. Laundry in the hall is an obstruction and a fire risk. I wouldn't be surprised if deeds say that communal areas have to be kept clear. Agree that her apartment door is a fire risk if it's open too, building regs require it to be a fire door and you aren't allowed to prop a fire door open.

What kind of food is she cooking?

Agree, blocking communal areas/fire hazard is a good line for a complaint.

Have sprayed strong air freshener into the hall/ pretty much in to her flat multiple times but it changes nothing and just get loudly tutted at if any response at all.

Have already started a diary about the noise but will start one for the stench she is generating also, although unsure what to put other than strong cooking odours coming from neighbour daily from 6am - 10pm, especially worse at at breakfast, lunch and tea time.

From what I've read/ been told so far, as long as it's legal she's completely entitled to cook whatever she wants in her home regardless of the smell it creates but will contact the council tomorrow to see what advice they can offer.

Have wrote to the agency but he is extremely uncooperative and unresponsive to emails and would rather call me instead, I suspect this is to limit any paper trail that will indicate he's not doing his job, keeping receipts of the all the extra air fresheners, candles and cleaning supplies we're having to buy extra to try and eliminate the odour is a great idea and hopefully will prompt him to actually do something if it means the landlord would be out of pocket in having to cover these costs.

We've only been in the property for a month or so, so have tried to be patient in trying to resolve the issue for fear of coming across as the new tennants being difficult but it really has gotten too much now.

Citing it as a potential fire hazard is also a great idea so will try going down that avenue too.

Washing drying in the communal hall + door left open = massive fire risk.

Can you find out who owns your freehold and contact them? It might not be your landlord. You can also complain to the council (unsure if it’s the housing department or environmental health) about living in an unsafe home due to the fire risk, especially if you’ve raised with the landlord/agency and they’ve refused to address it. Shelter will likely have advice on this if you’re not sure who to contact.

The smelly food thing and loud TV are subjective but you have a right to live in a safe home, definitely take that approach.

Oh god thIs brings back memories. When we lived overseas. Massive apartment building and a family the other side of the building from us but whose apartment door was down ththe corridor directly opposite ours used to cook the most horrific smelling food. I reckon 20paces from our door to theirs. But omg the smell.

And then I got pregnant. Ugh. It literally turned my stomach. It wasn’t just me being fussy. Everyone who came in commented. Staff in the apartment building. People in other apartments.

I’ve no idea what happened but they left and it stopped.

You have my sympathies. It’s horrible. I used to try t have all my windows open but th traffic noise and smells and 30 degree heat didn’t make that a viable option either.

Unsure what she is cooking, the odour is much, much stronger than any curry or other foods that can be quite over powering smell wise, when we've had guests over they comment that it smells rotting onions..

To the council you probably need to present it as a use of the hall issue rather than a smell issue.

You can't do anything about the cooking ... I would have thought. (I've not heard of anyone being ordered not to cook certain foods in their own home .)

However the shutting of the door and removal of the washing (because they are fire hazards) ought to interest your council much more

The people in our building were Korean. I’m assuming it was fermented foods. Ironic given it’s all so ‘in’ now.

Again thank you for all the useful responses.

Raising the fire safety issue will hopefully force some sort of action, we're literally door to door at a right angle, so if she is told to stop using the small corridor that we share as her laundrette at least we'll be able to enter our apartment without having to squeeze past her drying laundry.

On the rare occasion her door is closed or shut at night the smell and noise is still pretty invasive but definitely much better, really wanted to try and settle this without having to write letters, go to the council etc but

I agree to contact the council, you could do with speaking to an environmental health officer there. When you explain the problem, include that you've spoken already and how is affecting you in your own home.

Sounds like a cultural thing. I too lived overseas and my neighbours used to leave their doors open and have the TV on full blast. They cooked with shrimp chilli paste the whole time and all of my clothes and apartments stank of it. There was no privacy.

I think you have to move if you can't live with it.