Noisy Neighbours. What can we do ?

[goddardo]

I was wondering if anyone here has had to deal with noisy neighbours.
We're currently having to put up with frequent late night parties.
The teenage lad who lives next door has his mates round whenever his mum goes to her boyfriend's for the night & those parties can get pretty wild. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a killjoy & the young lad in question seems a good kid & tries to keep a lid on things when we complain, but the music & shouting can be an assault on the senses & violates our space.
I've looked on the net to see where we stand here & it looks like a minefield of legislation & information.
Has anyone here been though this, or do you have any idea where we might stand ?

 

[kidgreen61]

Assuming you get on ok with his mum, my first thought would be to have a gentle word in her ear, and see if she can help.

 

[Richardp]

Make a note of it each time,on the calender and make a note of any conversation you have about it,times dates etc, anything and everything!! and in the mean time go to your local council, there is a department or officer for just that,'Anti-social noise'.

 

[WDIK]

if it goes on after 23.00hrs.
go around and machine them all to death

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

What The Law Says

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, councils are obliged to take reasonable steps to investigate complaints of nuisance noise (and other types of nuisance such as littering or emissions) made by residents. The same law states that where the local authority believes that a nuisance is present, it must serve an ‘abatement notice’ on the individual responsible. The abatement notice can forbid the nuisance altogether, or restrict it to certain times of day.

If the person creating the nuisance cannot be found, the notice is served on the owner or occupier of the property from which the nuisance is coming. Failure to obey the abatement notice is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of £5,000.

In considering whether a nuisance is taking place, the council will consider (1) the nature and location of the noise, (2) the time and duration of the noise and (3) whether the activity creating the noise has any value.

‘Nuisance’

In England and Wales, ‘nuisance’ is defined legally as an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of one’s property. In deciding this, consideration of the standards of the average person, and the character of the neighbourhood in question (such as whether other residents who are affected have also complained) will be taken.

Confusingly, the definition of nuisance in Scotland is not the same as England and Wales. The definition in Scotland requires that the behaviour is both unreasonable and causes discomfort. Reasonableness is judged with regard to an imaginary ‘reasonable person’ – would they be affected by the level of noise being created?

There is no level of volume which must be met for a noisy neighbour’s behaviour to be considered a nuisance. The standard is subjective and the assessment made by the local authority will be subject to the individual assessor. This is another reason why keeping a diary of noisy behaviour by neighbours is important – it can lend weight to your case.

 

[Blasphemous]

I agree with kidgreen, if you're on friendly terms with the mother speak to her first and tell her how bad it's been, how upsetting it is. If that fails then you'll have to take things further. But it may be she doesn't know it's going on/is so noisy because as you say she's not there when it's happening.

Good luck with it. It's really awful when you cannot get piece in your own flamin home!

 

[goddardo]

Thanks for the advice folks. The next time it happens, I plan to have a word with his mum. They're an ok lot to be honest, but I am starting to make a diary. I've held off telling his mum as he's an ok kid, not one of the plonkers you often get nowadays, but it is becoming a problem I want to nip in the bud. Strangely enough It was this lads parents who made our lives hell in the 80's with loud music into the early hours. They separated & the guy, who was the real trouble causer left home & all went quiet at last. We don't want to think that we're starting to get the same problem from the next generation.

 

[Jimbo1978]

The next time they have a party go round will a silicone gun and stick the doors and windows shut. Then sit back an laugh when they cant get out.
And have a whiz in the letterbox,

Too much info from me......Feel free to ignore my ideas

 

[DanRo]

I sympothise with you.

We live next door to a house full of students. It's a tricky situation in that they don't make noise all the time but you are always on edge and listening out. They're all frightfully posh with good manners but they are young and away from home and want to let their hair down.

The council will give you some sheets to log the times and dates of any noise but be aware that if you go down that route and the council gets officially involved, then as far as I know, if you sell your house you have to mention this complaint during the selling process.

All the best

 

[toptec]

I sympothise with you.

The council will give you some sheets to log the times and dates of any noise but be aware that if you go down that route and the council gets officially involved, then as far as I know, if you sell your house you have to mention this complaint during the selling process.

All the best

Technically you have to mention it whether the council is involved or not.

 

[Blasphemous]

I sympothise with you.

The council will give you some sheets to log the times and dates of any noise but be aware that if you go down that route and the council gets officially involved, then as far as I know, if you sell your house you have to mention this complaint during the selling process.

All the best

Technically you have to mention it whether the council is involved or not.

Technically being the operative word. It's not nice if you do go down the route of 'not disclosing' everything and the next owners get it though! Needs sorting really.

 

[ajstoneservices]

20 years ago we had a semi in London the adjoining house was a rental often let to students from the local uni mostly and occasionally the RAF or anyone else that could pay the rent.

We had to put up with nine years of parties and noise late into the night and early morning. I was constantly knocking the door asking them(use to change often) to turn it down, which to be fair they always did. At the time our first child was born a group of lads from Newcastle were living there they were great guys worked on the "Bins" for the local council. Trouble was every weekend they get ****ed and rowdy and became a nightmare.

One night I woke to my wife in tears it was around two in the morning the lads were screaming and shouting with the TV up loud. I pulled on my joggers went and knocked the door (it open directly into the lounge) without saying a word I stepped in and sat in the now vacated chair in front of the TV, American football was playing. On a coffee table nearby were some cans of beer. I took and opened a can and began to drink from it not a word had been spoken by them or me. It was now quite apart from the TV the lads were sat around open mouthed just staring at me and each other wondering what was going to happen.

Finally I spoke "well I cant live in my own house because of the noise so I just as well move in here" after they apoligised again I left. They moved out the next week and we sold up shortly after.


We've made sure we never had close neighbours again.

 

[RigidRaider]

There's a very helpful website called Neighbours From Hell, which is full of advice. If nothing else you'll feel better at knowing you aren't alone in suffering neighbour noise.

To the OP, you need to give the lad one chance to mend his ways. Catch him alone and give the ultimatum - he has to learn that noise is not acceptable when you have close neighbours. My parents used to leave me and my teenage brother & sisters alone for whole evenings and we would rampage around the house and garden, we even blew the bass units in my Dad's Rogers speakers to bits. We never had a neighbour complaint but if we had, it would have worried the sh!t out of us.

 

[Nige F]

better at knowing you aren't alone in suffering neighbour noise.

we even blew the bass units in my Dad's Rogers speakers to bits. .

THAT IS unforgivable .

 

[Donkmeister]

We were the only students who ever went round to the non-student neighbours to complain about the noise!

I used to live above a bloke who was quiet until he bought a new stereo and insisted on playing it really loud all the time. I solved that one by playing a game of "my stereo is considerably louder than yours" with a 1000-watt amp, several monitors, dual subwoofers and a 15" bass cab to really send the message home.

After 5 minutes of playing Quad Maximus on that lot, wearing ear-defenders, I turned it all off and never again heard more than a gentle murmur from his stereo.

Well, he wasn't going to come and complain, was he?

OP, I agree with speaking to the lad on his own. He might not even realise it's causing so much disturbance on your side of the wall.