Neighbour and noise. Where do I legally stand?

[Witchtower]

Firstly I am going to apologise to anyone who has already read this. A helpful MN opened my eyes to the legal section, hopefully I will have more luck here.

I will try my hardest not to drip feed.

I live in a period conversion that was divided into 6 flats. I think it was converted in the 80’s. We are all share of freeholders and all have exactly the same lease, which was written in 84.

Neighbour directly below uses her property as a second home and tends to come by every 2-3 weeks, sometimes more often and mainly on weekends.

I moved into my property 6 years ago. On the day we were moving in our neighbour directly beneath us explained that the neighbours before were quite loud and if we could be aware of noise. At this point it was myself, my partner and my 3mo daughter.
The complaints began very quickly. But at this point there really was no noise. My daughter slept 23 hours a day and I sat on my bum tbh. If she wasn’t sleeping she was BF.

The property had underlay and laminate flooring when we moved in. I checked my lease and it said ‘floors need to be covers with carpet felt it adequate flooring.’ I did a bit of research and discovered that carpet felt was a term used for underlay back in the 80’s. We explained this to the neighbour but she continued to complain. Constant complaining.

I became pregnant with DC3 and DD1 was 3 and DC2 was 1. At this point we received a solicitors letter. I emailed the solicitor with the reasons why we didn’t think we needed to get s carpet. Nothing came from this but a few months later we received another letter from another solicitor. I contacted them with the same reasons. At this point I went through the lease with a fine toothcomb and right at the back of a 50 page lease was a clause stating we needed carpet. So I sat down with my partner and discussed our options.

I called quite a few companies relating to noise pollution. All said the noise transmitted from our flat does not constitute as noise pollution. They advised that installing a carpet but have a minimal effect in blocking the noise. I explained to neighbour and asked if we could soundproof floorboards and get laminate. She refused and demanded that we install carpet. So we installed carpet. We opted for the thickest underlay and one of the most expensive carpets. But 18 months without complaints she has now started complaining again. She apparently doesn’t believe that we have installed carpet.

Where do I legally stand regarding my flooring and the noise? If she did get another solicitor involved could they enforce anything? It was her choice to get a carpet, against the advice given to her.

Just to add she is a very difficult neighbour and refuses to support the freehold e.g. allowing access to builders etc

@DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen but that’s the whole point of the thread. Because of the nature of the building we were told by carpet fitters and sound proofing specialists that a carpet will have minimal effect but she still demanded carpet, so we got carpet but now it’s bit good enough. Even though we offered to spend a lot more money on the suggested solution (sound proofing) but she refused.

With 3DC under 6 it probably would be loud. We installed carpet 18 months ago so our youngest was probably just about learning how to walk. We are out all day mon-fri and one day on the weekend. Unfortunately it’s usually weekends that she visits.

Ps there was thick underlay under the laminate. I’m not sure if that makes a difference.

Also my neighbour upstairs has carpet but if she has guests then the whole house vibrates. She’s usually extremely quiet as she lives alone, unless her boyfriend visits then that’s a different story 😀.
She is a lovely lady.
I have lived in old properties my whole life and am fully aware of noise transmitting through floors. But you cannot expect total silence in a basement flat in London. Maybe that’s just me but I think you have to accept some level of noise from your neighbours if you live that close to one another.

Sounds like you've done as much as you can. Im no lawyer but a court wouldn't be able to take action against the fact a family makes normal day to day noise.

Definitely request that any future correspondence come via her solicitor otherwise you will make a harrassment complaint.

Surprised she hasn't sold up, given it's her holiday home and she isn't enjoying it (or maybe she is, this is how some people get their kicks)

I would imagine living in a ground floor flat would mean the potential for any noise above.

Three children will make noise and one persons noisy is not another persons!

If you only make noise on one day ie one weekend day then I cannot see she has grounds for complaint.

Have you thought of mediation?

Personally I would move but appreciate that may not he possible/desirable/achievable etc etc

She sounds like a bully and it sounds like you could have done more sooner!

If you want to stay- mediation or solicitor

Mediation has kind of been done with freehold. We all had a meeting and tried to resolve it with sensible solutions. She shut down every single suggestion. She has requested another meeting but everyone had avoided it as sitting in a room with her is draining.
I even invited her for a cup of tea to try and resolve it but she began taking photos of my flat so I asked her to leave.

We all know that one person who has to be right at all times. No room for compromise. No room for an unbiased approach. It is her way or the highway!

The only way to approach her is to say, the law is etc etc. I was just hoping that because this was her choice then she would have no grounds to send me abother solicitors letter but I’m not sure that’s why I’ve come to MN. Leasehold advisory service may be able to help.

You seem to have done all that you can. Live your life. Make normal family noise. Ignore her and her solicitors letters. They are meaningless. There are not from a court. Anyone may instruct a solicitor to write a letter saying almost anything.

The fact that the letter comes from a solicitor doesn't mean you have to do what it says. The solicitor is getting paid to write what the client wants. Speaking to the leasehold advisory service is a good idea.

You have to live your life as you want in your actual home. Hers is a second home that she chooses to spend time in; if it’s that awful
She can sell it and stay her other house!

Personally I think you should see a solicitor and get them to tell her to stop harassing you and if that didn’t work then speak to the police about it.

She sounds completely crackers. Give people like this an inch and they take a mile.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have spoken to police. The person I spoke to literally said ‘what do you want us to do about it’ I had to explain that it was causing a lot of stress and anxiety. They said they would send her a letter. I’m not sure if they did.

But yes I have definitely tried everything and exhausted every avenue. I just want it to stop!!!!

Learn to the ignore her. She’s thrives on the drama. Don’t give her any.

If anyone wants an update....

I spoke to the leasehold advisory service and they gave me pretty much the same information.
They told be that I’m complying with the lease so the next step would be a freehold meeting (already done) and the step after that would be a letter signed from the freehold explaining that I am fully compliant with the lease and any further complaints would be seen as nuisance.
The lady also said that if the noise is impeding on my neighbours quality of life then my neighbour does have a case. She said get the freeholders to listen to the noise (already done)
She also said that the fact she doesn’t live there means it’s not effecting her quality of life. I did question this as I said she is still the homeowner and she did give me a valid reason but I’m not sure if I can remember correctly. She said something along the lines that her rights as a leaseholder and freeholder are different.

I guess my next step is a letter from the freehold. I’ll hold back on this until after the next complaint.

good idea witchtower. you did your best. but i still stand with my first post.

I think solicitor would be the best option but want to sell in the bext few years so I’m not sure if that is something I want to declare.

You'd need to declare this anyway, at this point; it would already count as a dispute. So you may as well get a solicitor who can advise you on harassment.

She says you're impacting on her quality of life through noise, she's impacting on yours because you're always going out and not using the garden.

@AnchorDownDeepBreath I could be wrong but I was advised that I will only have to declare the dispute if solicitors were involved.

@Witchtower it's not my area of law; but I believe that anything in writing, and any complaints to the council or any authorities, are declarable. So you'd already be well passed that point, and getting a solicitor may help to resolve it in a way that a future buyer will be happy enough.

That sounded a bit abrupt, sorry! I've got a demon of a headache.

@AnchorDownDeepBreath didn’t sound abrupt at all.

I guess it’s a bit tricky as the original complaint via solicitor was too install carpet, which we did. So I assume we don’t need to declare that. But now the complaints are again regarding the noise but in my eyes it is bit in dispute as we have installed the carpet. But that’s obviously my point of view as I’m pissed off with neighbour.

Had a valuation last night so will have a chat with EA and see what they advise.