Noisy neighbours - i have had enough!!

[saintshar]

We have lived here for six Months-ish. We rent from a housing association, (ex council) and like(d) it so much, we are going through the process of buying.

I though our neighbours were great! They are in their early sixtys, and have always seemed nice. When we first moved in, they would lend us their lawnmower etc, as we didn't have a garden where we lived before.

Problem is, the last two months or so, they, and a few other people from this street, have been sitting in the street in front of their house, drinking till all hours. Now whilst they are not exactly screeming and shouting, they are loud.

I am quite a light sleeper anyway, which doesn't help. The more they drink, the louder they get. I wouldn't mind so much if it was just on a Weekend, but it is during the Week as well.

I went out to them about a Week ago, it was midnight, as they kept waking DS2 up. I just asked if they could keep it down, as DS kept waking, and they did. But the next night was back to normal.

Last night they were out again till 1am. DS wakes up a few times in the night, then is up for the day at 7ish, so today i am TOTALY knackered! I have been getting really upset about this today. I have been snapping at the kids because i am so tired. I had a driving lesson, but just feel as if i am throwing £18 down the drain, because i am that tired, i am not learning anything.

So as you can see, this is really effecting me. I am not a confrontational person, but i also know i can't go on like this much longer.

So any words of wisdom as to how i can go about 'having it out' with them would be much appreciated. Better still, can someone come with me and hold my hand?? (wimp mode!!)

Oh, I really feel for you saintstar. I had a similar problem and sorry to say I did actually move in the end as it drove me to distraction. They were a lovely family but oh so noisy and the little boy was a bit of a pain because he had about 20 + footballs, golf balls etc which constantly ended up in my garden. One day I counted 24 in my garden in 1 afternoon!! Anyway, one day I got soooo peed off that I wrote them a letter and got pictures and cards from the children apologising. It wasn't enough though and I still moved. Sorry, not much help to you but I do know how very wearing it can be.
You need to bear in mind that if anything is put in writing then it should be declared if and when you move. Not really sure what to suggest other than you try and speak to them again. Why would anyone want to drink in the street at that time of the night when they have a house/garden to sit in? Are all the neighbours a similar age? You'd think they'd be more thoughtful. I have one suggestion - throw a big party and create some noise of your own!!

Well there's nothing worse than having a bad neighbour so you have two options, either get used to the noise or, move to another place.

We moved from our last house (ex council) because the neighbour was such a dirty person he used the back garden as a toilet, some times he left the water on and the water overflowed to our garden and I found tampons coming into our garden twice. We spoke to him and he appologised but the problem continued. There were also some kids in the street always playing futbol by our car (and hitting it ofcourse) it was not until we moved out that I realised how stressful was to have them around. So my sugestion would be to move out, or at least don't buy the house yet until you have found away around the problem.

Am i right in thinking that even if you are buying your house you still have to abide by certain rules of the H/A ???
If thats the case then I would of thought you were able to complain to them about the noise.
If not, you can complain to the council who will contact environmental health.

Word of wrning though, you will be asked to fill in diary sheet after diary sheet, which ask stupid questions.

I sypmathise though i really do. We have (nearly had) noisy neighbours and it is a nightmare.
We started complaining not long after we moved in (3 yrs ago) and we still have probs with them.
We have filled in gods knows how many forms and i have had monitoring equipment fitted twice. Our H/A are planning on taking her to court but i'm certainly not holding my breath.

Saintshar, they may have not realised the level of noise they are making, and it is obviously driving you mad, so you must speak to them. It doesn't have to be confrontational, it can be along the lines of "You obviously don't realise how noisy it is..."

If that doesn't bring any results, I agree with Chandra, you'll have to move. I know that's easy to say, but the stress of living with noisy neighbours for any longer than a few months is really not to be underestimated. I had some, for about seven years, always very friendly and apologetic when I complained (which wasn't half as often as they made complainable noise), but I always felt really angry and embarrassed about being in a position where I had to complain. And if you do officially complain about them, you'll have the stress of being on extremely bad terms with your neighbours, plus you will have to declare it if you sell, otherwise the buyer could sue you. So don't put anything in writing unless you are absolutely determined to see it through and not move.

The other option is to ask the HA about sound-proofing - explain that it is very noisy, and you don't want to commit to buying until that issue has been sorted.

You have my sympathy, i know how awful it is. Good luck!

I had noisy neighbours and they still live next door but they have never been as noisy as the first month they moved here since the housing manager went round and had a word. Instead of 24/7 banging rave music its now maybe once a fortnight, a year and a bit later(so they didnt just stop for a bit and then start again). I dont know what the H/M said but it worked. Give it a try. You have my sympathy.
OR, make the din from Hell in the morning so they will be tired and wont stay up all hours the next night!

my neighbours had a party on Saturday and they knocked on my door to warn me in advance which I thought was very nice of them. The problem is they are also playing their music again tonight and have been since 3:30pm. My windows are even vibrating and we have double glazing!!! If they are playing it again tomorrow I will be speaking to my housing manager to see what I can do about it. It is so stressful, some people are very selfish. I hope you manage to sort out your neighbours, I like the idea of making loads of noise early in the morning to make them too tired to stay up late!!!

I think you need to explain how tired you are and the disruption in terms of waking your child. Tell them that you really are sorry to have to approach them like this and that you don't want to be difficult or a party pooper, but that you really would appreciate it if they could keep the noise down. Perhaps you can suggest that they 'retire' in doors after say 22.00 hrs? If you are extremely polite about it then they are most unlikely to take offence.