Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Moving because of neighbours

83 replies

Elephant75 · 15/03/2021 07:15

Morning everyone

We bought our lovely ground floor flat with private garden just over 1.5 years ago. It's a old building converted into 6 flats. Yes... You know where I'm going with this.

We are lucky and don't have a mortgage. Just the usual ground rent and service charge. We love our flat and the location is brilliant. We love it

However since we have been here the noise from upstairs has become unbearable. I appreciate that we will hear noise being on the ground floor and in an old building. We are almost in our 50s so are pretty sensible about things.

We, along with other neighbours, have all complained to the freeholder about the noise. It's not loud music just to be clear. Just their family constantly over, over the weekend we have had about 15 hours of children running over floors, jumping, etc. It was unbearable. This has been happening every couple of days for hours on end. Even before lockdown started
Not sure why the children of the family aren't in school

They rent off the freeholder and she has been extremely sympathetic to us and has told them to stop.she admits there are problems with them. However, it has continued. We have even had plaster come off our walls and bit comes off our radiator where the jumping and shuddering has been severe. Our flat cost us over £400k and to see it being damaged almost daily is heart breaking.

A house along the road has just come up for sale. Obviously we would have to get a mortgage of around £100,000 and the downstairs and garden needs a bit of work. Also parking for 2 cars. We could pay this mortgage off within 3 years.

The question is.... Would you stick it out in our lovely flat and see if the neighbours move on. They also have 3 week old baby so I am sympathetic to them and conscious about her feelings and feel that I can no longer complain. Or go for the house. We are leasehold, the flat is freehold.

I bumped into the son of the freeholder the other day who obviously knew of the complaints. He informed me that his mum and had put them on a shorter lease and that she would like them out before the end of the year but feels she can't move them now because of the baby which is understandable. No sure how true this is but he seems a sensible bloke and works for his mum at the company.

We know the lady who is selling the house. She now lives abroad and won't be coming back so is in rush and is willing to wait until we sell our flat.

Any thoughts. The noise and damage is really getting me down now so appreciate any advice or similar situations.

OP posts:
0blio · 15/03/2021 07:18

I couldn't tolerate that, I'd buy the house.

TheQueef · 15/03/2021 07:18

Life is too short to be at the mercy of others if you can avoid it.

userxx · 15/03/2021 07:20

You've only been there for one and a half years and it's an issue already, the next tenants might be as noisy. I think I'd cut my losses and go for the house, is it detached?

Batlou · 15/03/2021 07:21

Oh gosh, move!

Move to the house and never be at the mercy of upstairs tenants again.

Xx

sandgrown · 15/03/2021 07:22

Definitely the house . The location is obviously as good . You can make it lovely and not be at the mercy of other tenants .

ItsSnowJokes · 15/03/2021 07:24

We had this last year with the tenant from hell. We sold and bought a house and it's the best thing we have ever done. No noise, and is pure bliss.

DartmoorDoughnut · 15/03/2021 07:24

Definitely move!

Heretooutthere · 15/03/2021 07:24

Move if you feel you can afford to - life is too short to put up with this, and even if the family move out you never know if the new tenants will be noisy too. Or it could be that the property’s noise insulation isn’t good and it won’t matter who lives upstairs- you could always have this issue.

MaryIsA · 15/03/2021 07:24

Move, absolutely move.

MissBPotter · 15/03/2021 07:24

Go for the house, you can easily afford it by the sounds of things. Life is too short. There will always be these sorts of issues with flats, I would always choose a house over a flat personally.

MaryIsA · 15/03/2021 07:25

I lived with something similar for 3 years but I was renting. The relief when I moved out was incredible, I hadn’t realised how bad it had got.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 15/03/2021 07:28

Move! House over a flat any day- but mainly for the noise reason.

pilates · 15/03/2021 07:33

In your circumstances I would want to move but be prepared you will have to disclose the complaints to a prospective buyer.

ConstanceGracy · 15/03/2021 07:34

We have just moved because of our next door neighbours.
They have been doing diy every day for over a year, their youngest is always screaming and crying because of his big brother who seems to revel in terrorising him , they stomp about the house which made our pictures rattle and the constant massive family get togethers (even now) all added up to a stressful living situation.
Moved in to a detached on Friday and my god , it’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven!
Move , the situation won’t improve as even the next ones might be just as bad.

Didicat · 15/03/2021 07:35

I’d move, who knows what the next set of neighbours will be like even if she moves the family on?

Elephant75 · 15/03/2021 07:36

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. The house is end terrace (built around 2014 by the same developer who did the flats so all the appliances and bathrooms are the same so we could get it looking the same as the flat in about 2 days) but I know everyone who lives in all four houses attached and the layout means we would hear minimum noise. I even know the neighbour as he has been letting us in to view as he has the key. The house is literally about 20 seconds walk from the flat. We've been to see the house 3 times and can go whenever we want to view it. Unfortunately detached houses around this area are over £1 million but we love the location.

OP posts:
Tittyfilarious · 15/03/2021 07:37

I'd move, the next tenants could be worse than this.

boymum9 · 15/03/2021 07:41

I would move, 100%.
I also own a lovely lovely ground floor garden flat with parking in a period building that's been converted, my flat is the whole footprint of the building with its down entrance but above it's been converted into 6 flats.
Ever since I moved here the side of the flat that has my bedroom on the flat above it has been empty, every so often builders and the owner have come in to do stuff and the noise is unbearable and I could not live with it consistently, you can hear every voice and every footstep. The owner has they when he moves in they'll put down sound proofing and flooring on top but we'll see. The flat on the other side is just one older lady living alone but the noise from that is bad enough and if was over my bedroom I would have moved by now.
If you can pay off the mortgage on the house within 3 years I'd most definitely move and live without the annoyance of upstairs neighbours!

LadyBugg · 15/03/2021 07:41

Move to the house, absolutely! When these neighbours move, who else might move in?

bonfireheart · 15/03/2021 07:41

Tbh the house also sounds like a better financial investment so yes I would leave.

FelicityPike · 15/03/2021 07:42

Move.
Even if the noisy noisersons upstairs move on, the next tenants could be worse!
No way would I live somewhere that my property was being damaged.

Listersfan · 15/03/2021 07:44

We have just moved to a detached to get away from unbearable neighbours. I used to cry daily in our old house, the noise was eating me away. I now haven't cried once in five weeks, and what a pleasure that is.

Move, life's too short.

FedUpAtHomeTroels · 15/03/2021 07:45

Move. Maybe the freeholder will buy yours too and move the family downstairs so they have a garden. win win for the whole block.

lobsteroll · 15/03/2021 07:46

Definitely move!

They could move out but someone even worse could move in.

The house doesn't sound suitably built for flat living.

The new house sounds perfect. It's meant to be!

Elephant75 · 15/03/2021 07:51

Seems such a common problem these days doesn't. The noise can be awful. To the previous poster who said about disclosing disputes, yes. You are right. That is why I now what to stop complaining. We could afford a detached house in another area but we like the location here. Right in the town, by the station, independent shops, cafes.

We have been emailing the owner of the house and are now £20,000 apart.

Just feel gutted that all our savings are being used up and we are having to get a mortgage because of a couple of young kids upstairs and their extended family!!

But like another previous poster said, the house is an investment.

Thank you everyone.

OP posts: