• Registered: 13 May 2010
  • Posts: 1

Topic: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hello I am new to this website, and wondered if someone could give tell me if we are noisy neighbours.  We have been accused of being noisy neighbours!  Back in 2008 it was my husband & mine 40th's.  In July I had a summer party to celebrate my 40th, it was all going well.  The neighbours had returned late that evening with friends; they had been to a 40th which fell rather flat.  The following one of the neighbours said to me "great party, we were dancing on our patio to your music".  We had no parties or large gatherings until December 2008 (we have a young family), for my husband's 40th, admittedly we were playing music until 1ish in the morning but then again it was 40th and we had told them we were having it.  We then had a New Year's eve gathering, the music was on (but then it was New Year's Day) until 1:30ish, but was by no means loud as we could have normal volume conversations.  I was saying goodbye to some friends when the husband came out next door and was verbally abusive saying "have two kids awake upstairs crying", I first of all said how sorry I was didn't think it was that loud, said I would go in and turn it right down.  It didn't stop there though and as the verbal abuse flowed.  How we take the effing p**s, unreasonable eff's after eff's coming.  Since then we have barely spoken as I can't forgive how he spoke to me.  It's now got to the point where my husband was tapping in some screws (4 taps to be precise) and the neighbour come round to say the kids are trying to sleep please could we stop!  The kids are 10 and 7......I would hate to think we were noisy neighbours but I'm thinking they are being a bit bloody minded!!  Perhaps we are noisy neighbours or are there worse than this out there??

Quote Post 1

  • Mac99
  • Noisy neighbour!
  • Offline
  • Registered: 16 April 2010
  • Posts: 113

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi,

Welcome to the site and well done for asking the questions. As someone who has suffered from noisy neighbours it is not nice to be on the receiving end of noise. I wont say whther it is right or wrong but obviously your neighbours think so and really it is their opinion that counts.

Even if you wish to have a party most people probably wouldnt object if it went on until a reasonable time. The two parties you mention went on until after 1 in the morning when most people would be sleeping (yes I know New Years Eve). A party with music will also have a bass element which is more irritating and intrusive than the volume of the music.

In law sleep hours are classed as 11pm to 7am and there was an act of parliment brought in specifically to cover these hours.

If his kids were trying to sleep and couldnt then I would imagine it must have been in the evening or late at night.

My own point of view is simple you have the right to listen to your music but if you have that right then I have the right not to listen to your music.

The other thing I would imagine you are thinking of is it is a party and it is only infrequent. You would be mistaken in thinking this because a birthday party was held to be nuisance by the magistrates even though it was the first time in 3 years with daytime music. Yes that is right once in 3 years.

Sorry if that isnt what you want to hear or expect to hear but everyone has rights.

Maybe the thing to do is to knock at your neghbours door, apologise for having disturbed them and ask if you can come to some agreement ie if you have a party you will notify them and stop the music at 11pm and ask about daytime stuff.

Regards
Mac

Quote Post 2

  • Registered: 1 April 2010
  • Posts: 194

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

JJ, I'm sorry to read of the problems with your neighbours. Certainly, some people, once upset, will become overly sensitive, and I suspect this is what has happened. You had one party, they could accept that, and they thought it was a one-off.  Then you had another party, albeit not overly noisy to your ears, but YOU DIDN'T WARN THEM!  Not warning someone of an event which is likely to disturb them, and more important, their sleeping children, is pretty bad manners, and not very good judgement. In my experience, very young children sleep through noise much better than older ones, like those your neighbours have. Admittedly, the language was uncalled-for, but angry people will sometimes lose their inhibitions!

We used to live next door, in a semi-detached house, to a family with two daughters, much the same age as our own. We got on fine most of the time, but the husband was a DIY enthusiast. He wasn't a bodger, but a very talented man - their house was beautiful. Unfortunately, instead of keeping his work on the house for weekends, he would work after he'd had his weekday evening meal.  By then, it was getting late, and our girls were in bed. They, however, let their girls stay up considerably later, watching tv programmes which we'd never allow our girls to watch. Now, that was their choice, but keeping our girls awake wasn't on. I had a quiet word with the wife, after almost a week of it, and she understood, her husband didn't. It caused bad feeling for a while, but we eventually got over it.

Quote Post 3

4 Reply by Joanne

  • Joanne
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi Just browsing and thought I would write about my experience from the other side so to speak.  After saving for a good few years, I've managed to get my self onto the property ladder and buy what I thought was a lovely little 2 bed semi detached house.  I met my neighbour about 3 days after completion and I showed him inside and explained what I intended to do ie spend my time and my hard earned cash turning it into my own little home. I explained to him that there would be some noise during the day whilst this would be going on if he could bear with me as it would only take a couple of weeks.  He kept going on about the previous owner and that he had problems with music with the previous owner.  He went away and seemed fine with this.  My b/f did very little work on the property for approx 2 weeks then I booked a plumber and electrician to upgrade the electrics and fit a brand new central heating system.  The work was done and then one night when I wasnt there, he was doing some painting and received a knock on the door and the next door neighbour wanted to talk to him.  He spent about an hour in my property and proceeded to tell my b/f that he'd reported the previous owner to environmental health for noise (ie to the point of getting sound monitors installed)  and my b/f told me that the neighbour was making veiled threats against us.  My bf then warned me to write to EHO to tell them what we were doing and that we strongly suspect that they would receive a complaint from the neighbour. Any DIY noise we have made has been limited to a couple of hours approx 5pm -7pm every couple of nights and the odd full Saturday starting no earlier than 9am. Im moving out from my mothers who has two very noisy barking dogs who make more noise than me and my b/f made.  The warning email was sent to EHO May 5th and June 16th I received the first letter from the environmental health.  I'm struggling now to decide the best way to deal with it.  Ive just taken order of a new bathroom which is going to get fitted in the next few weeks which of course will make some noise, but is he going to complain about that too !!!

After having received the complaint letter, we knocked on a few neighbours doors to find out about this individual, to which we found out that they had also had run-ins with this individual (not noise nuscience) and that even one person had assaulted the neighbour.

Im unsure now what to do and I've only had the property 8 weeks and feel so dishearted already even though my b/f has spent a lot of time and effort making the property nice for the two of us.

Any advice welcome ?

Quote Post 4

5 Reply by Joanne

  • Joanne
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

PS forgot to add that this neighbour has no children, does not work nights and has two noisy dogs he keeps locked in a bedroom whilst he goes out

Quote Post 5

  • Mac99
  • Noisy neighbour!
  • Offline
  • Registered: 16 April 2010
  • Posts: 113

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi Joanne,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Firstly let me say that some people are like that ie controlling. I think from what you have said there is no problem and I would doubt that anything would go against you. Much of what you have done is what would be classed as day to day noise and the times you have specified are not unreasonable.

However what your neighbour has done is to lay down a marker and should you play loud music and this is verified by Environmental Health then that would not be so good. I have to say I can see the music complaint coming if you do play as he has complained about this in the past.

EH Officers have a statutory duty to investigate all complaints and this cannot be avoided and will now have to be declared even if you are not at fault when you sell.

Personally I would carry on with your day to day life and ignore him. If it persists then you could get a solicitor to write a letter to him about harrasment. However if you do this then make sure that whatever you do that is causing the noise is day to day noise and loud music or tv or is carried out an unreasonable times.

Regards
Mac

Quote Post 6

7 Reply by Joanne

  • Joanne
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi Mac

Thanks for the advice.  Was considering the solicitors letter and taking the seller to court for misrepresentation of sale as the seller mentioned none of these issues in the conveyencing pack. Was shocked to find that the only solicitors who were interested wanted a minimum of two grand then i would have to gather proove of this guy being a serial complainer and it would be a difficult case.

Only re-assurance i did get through from EHO is that she said to carry on what I was doing as it sounded reasonable to her.  Am absolutely dreading the next letter from them though

Thought I was doing the right thing by informing this guy of the disturbance but obviously not.  Just feel harrased now and i've hardly had the house

Quote Post 7

  • Mac99
  • Noisy neighbour!
  • Offline
  • Registered: 16 April 2010
  • Posts: 113

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi Joanne,

Why worry about something that may or may not happen. I hope EH put this in writing (email or letter). If so make sure you keep these. Any conversations between you and your neighbour/EHO should be in writing and a copies kept.

I am sure that what you are doing is reasonable and if you want to play music then best to down it really down and turn it up in bits and listen each time in an adjacent room. If you can hear it an adjacent room then maybe just maybe the guy next door can hear as well. Poss do this for the TV as well.

Sometimes doing the right thing isnt the best but we dont know this until something happens.

Live your life and ignore him.

Regards
Mac

Quote Post 8

9 Reply by Emma

  • Emma
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Giving your neighbour the benefit of the doubt, Joanne, I wonder if he is a serial complainer or was the previous occupant genuinely noisy?  I just wonder if he may have got over sensitised (as bearness mentions in a reply to another post), and over reacted to the DIY noise.  You did the right thing in warning him, and most people accept DIY as a fact of life especially with new occupants - but he may have been motivated in trying to 'nip in the bud' what he saw as a potential noise nuisance.

I'd personally try extra hard to be nice, nod and smile at him even if you don't mean it - it may well diffuse his irritable streak (he sounds like he has one).  I can't see EH finding against you for DIY in normal daylight hours, and the nod you got from the officer would back that up - so he is really only wasting his and their time (they will have plenty of real complaints to deal with).

Good suggestion from Mac99 about checking your noise levels from TV/music in an adjacent room - we do that with our son's stereo, if we can hear it it gets turned down.

Quote Post 9

10 Reply by Joanne

  • Joanne
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Very good points you raise there Emma. All I know about the previous owner was that she was a single mum with two youngish children, who according to the neighbour complaining actually liked the house and didnt want to move.  I cant really say if the previous owner was a nuscience or not because the neighbours didnt mention anything about her at all but had plenty to say about him.  What makes me laugh though is that there is the house across the road to my left who make more racket than me and I'm the one who gets complained about. 

Cant do the volume test yet with the doors yet as currently my internal doors need re-fitting.  What I have done though is site the radio in the kitchen at the farthest point at the back of the house on the external wall rather than the ajoining wall and sat it on a folded up tea towel.  Oddly enough it seems to take some of the base noise off.  Will definately do the door thing when the doors are back on though.

Might seem a little silly but i've started my own basic little diary of when we are carrying out noisy work.  Cause then when the next complaint comes in, I can hand it over to EHO to look at. 

But hey ho, cant really dwell on it and just taking it as it comes now

Quote Post 10

11 Reply by Joanne

  • Joanne
  • Unregistered poster

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Well I thought my previous post would be the last on this matter but here I am again.  I started to relax and enjoy my property two weeks ago as the for sale sign went up next door.  I was then very pleased because I could then move in and start living.  I work full time and for the last 6 weeks my b/f has also managed to find himself a decent job meaning the property has been quiet, and very little work carried out apart from an odd hour here and there.  The property is nearly finished and I just have to have my bathroom refitted. We'd both  been out shopping all day and i left my b/f to visit the house at about 3pm this afternoon to build a desk out of wood in the living room.  I got back to my mothers and then got a very angry phone call to say that this neighbour had walked through my open front door uninvited and without knocking.  He was told in no uncertain circumstances to leave and then he started threatening to take us to court, yet I have had no further letters from Environmental Health.  My b/f rang the police straight away and i also went down to the front desk to be told its a civil matter and to go and try and reason with him.

As a previous poster has said, its properly oversensitivity to previous issues but again I feel like I am being bullied in my home.  Just wondering what other people would do.  As the Environmental Health Act states people have a peaceful right to enjoy their own home.  I am not enjoying my home at the moment because I'm nervous and worried about what this person would do next.

1. Would u just ignore it and let him move ?

2. Is it adviseable now to try and talk to him or has it gone too far ?

3. Is it worth me spending £150 on a solicitors letter ???

Quote Post 11

  • Mac99
  • Noisy neighbour!
  • Offline
  • Registered: 16 April 2010
  • Posts: 113

Re: I'm supposedly a Noisy Neighbour

Hi Joanne,

Difficult as the Police are right in one way, trespass is a civil matter. Have a look here:

http://www.desktoplawyer.co.uk/dtl/inde … 076BD34460

Regards
Mac

Quote Post 12