I have been reading through the problems people are having and really really sympathise - and some of them really reminded me I've been very very lucky in relative terms. So this may seem a minor situation but it really worked me up and I have to think of it as a success story - and given the dearth of them here I thought it might give others some hope that these things probably usually don't last for ever. For one reason or another people usually eventually move.

My first experience of noisy neighbours was when I lived in a converted flat in central London. After a really nice quiet neighbour two students moved in above and clumped about on the wooden floors at all hours and put their washing machine on (directly above my bedroom) in the middle of the night and played music loudly. Couldn't stand it so I moved out of there and found a flat in a very quiet residential area of south suburban London - and made sure I had the top floor masionette. Lived next to the quietest, nicest neighbours for about 15 years then the lady below me moved out. A younger guy moved in who liked club music and the tranquility was shattered. He was just generally very loud - in every way - spoke loudly, outside on the mobile phone, generally used the communal garden as an extra room (he had direct access to it) - and did I mention the club music? Oh - and have you ever had a neighbour who yawns so loudly you can hear him?

Over time I would find myself coming home from work on a weekday evening to what sounded like Ibiza going on down below. Drove me nuts - I couldn't even hear the TV. Don't get me wrong - I used to go clubbing sometimes myself and had been guilty of playing loud music on weekends - but I had never realised how the sound could travel throught the flats - particularly the bass - no one had ever said anything. Well I'd grown out of that pretty much by this time but I hated it! Absolutely loathed it. It was intrusive and, as some others have said, basically sounded like I was living with the guy (on Ibiza).

First time it came was just after he moved in and I ignored it. Then 2 months later. I ignored it. (I could hear the beat of the music much more frequently - these are just the really bad times by the way). Then a month later, then a few months later. OK it seems like nothing compared to the continual nuisance some people have - but over time it gets more and more annoying (remember the noise was still there much more frequently but not so unbearable). Then a week later back to the heavy stuff. I left a note but nothing happened. The other neighbours said they had left a note for him about something else and he'd been quite angry with them for not speaking to him. Then a week later it happened again (you get the drift - these things seem to accelerate as people think they can do what they want). So the next time I went down and asked him to turn it down. We were both friendly about it and he turned it down. I could still hear the beat through the floor but it was much less - and the antiques had stopped vibrating (I kid you not!) Two weeks later it came again. I went down again. Then a week later - went down again. Always the same nice response but seemed to keep forgetting what the issue was (short memory?) Then a couple of weeks, then another couple of weeks, then 3 weeks later, then a month later (at which point I went down again).  And since then (over a year ago) it's never been repeated - still get the occasional beats for a while but I hardly hear it. Just like that the worst was over.

I hated having to go down and have a 'confrontation' - although he was never unpleasant.
He still irritates me - still noisy shouting outside - the late night phone calls outside the window on the mobile - the banging of doors - the noisy friends visiting late at night - the boom boom of the car approaching - the car horn - the 'monopoly' of the communal gardens when it's sunny. But a couple of months ago the 'for sale' sign went up. A few weeks ago 'sold' went up.

I consider myself lucky now that I had a 'nice' guy who was just really uninhibited and noisy - and needed continual reminding that he didn't live miles from anyone else and we didn't all want to be part of his life (on Ibiza) (And that's the thing about noisy neighbours - you end up knowing all about them because you hear them talking so loudly - that in itself is very intrusive).

But I think this is a success story (of a relatively minor noise nuisance neighbour). Everyone stayed friends - it became an annoyance rather than something which was on my mind all the time and which made my home feel 'invaded'. He quietened down - fact is, I think he just realised that although I was always really friendly and sympathetic about the music - I would keep banging on that door - louder and louder until he could hear it and come to the door. And I think the fact that my banging on the door was disturbing his time with his girlfriend had something to do with it!
And yes as you can probably guess from the above I still have a log of the times the music was unbearable and I had to go down - just in case. I genuinely thought at one point I would have to start getting the council involved.

Please accept my sincerest wishes that all of you who have these really awful, selfish (and in some cases downright nasty) people as neighbours will find they eventually go and leave you in peace.
But in more minor cases it can just be the person doesn't realise they are causing the nuisance - and that some people need it to be a bit more 'drummed into them' than others. Sometimes these things can be sorted out amicably and leave you with just an 'irritation'. And even irritations move house. WAHEY! (sorry that was a word I learned from him through the walls and it's stuck with me now!)

And fingers crossed the woman who has bought it is QUIET!