Noisy Neighbour - Help & Advice Needed

[Rogue_Shadow]

Hello Almighty BCF

It annoys me to be making a thread in this section of the forum. I always like to deal with any issues myself & learn from it ... But this problem is taking its toll & I'm unsure how to deal with it.

2 years ago I moved out my parents and into my own home after years of saving for a deposit. It was a new build estate with my house in between a terrace and end terrace house. I love my house.
My neighbours are a family of 5 & the end terrace is a youngish couple.
The family, not a whisper
The Couple, a nightmare !

To cut the story short, besides the door slamming and bowling balls down the stairs, it's the loud music.
Normally late a night, bass reverberates through the walls & is inescapable in any room of the house. The strange thing is, these "sessions" are sporadic, being months apart. Unfortunately I've only just started taking notes. During the first year, when I asked them to turn the music down, they did so.

But in January 2016 during the New Year Bank Holidays, my neighbour with a lowlife friend got extremely aggressive. Telling me I was being "unreasonable" & that I should "move out". That night the bass went on till 2am & I felt powerless to do anything.

Months pass & I honestly thought they'd considered their actions and decided to be decent, that was until April when the music kicked up again at 8:30. All that time I drowned it out with my TV or headphones, constantly hoping it will stop before I intended to sleep. It stopped just shy of midnight

Nothing then untill this Saturday with heavy bass into the afternoon, but stopped around 7pm.
Sunday however it started again at 8pm, so I grew a pair and went around at 10:30 to ask them to turn it down. One of the neighbours answered the door, didn't say a word as I asked them to turn it down, then shut the door.
The volume reduced for about 10 minutes, then creeped back up & stayed till 4am!

I live alone and incase you didn't guess, I don't deal with confrontation well outside of a work environment. I feel pathetic and powerless to do anything & it's really starting to affect me.
Following a sleepless night, today I was getting what I can only describe as anxiety attacks about coming home from work. Anxious that my neighbour would be blaring music & I would be powerless to stop it. I've become paranoid by every deep bass note I hear in fear my neighbour is starting up again!
My neighbour is making me regret buying my own house and that ontop of my inability to man up is starting to depress me.

As they are the end terrace it's Me V Them, with no one else affected.

So what can I Realistically Do?
If I escalate this, will these sporadic "sessions" become more frequent once they know what gets to me.

I can complain to the council who'll send a disapproving letter & offer microphones to monitor to noise. The problem being bass is hard to record & the sessions are so sporadic they won't record anything.

I could call the Police once the music starts, but depending on response time, they could turn off by the time they turn up. Making me look like a unreasonable neighbour.

I've considered the drastic options too, such as moving out. But the current housing market doesn't allow me to do that especially on an estate where brand new properties are not yet sold. Also to me that running away from the issue and letting them " Win".

Any help, advice or own experiences would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure many reading this will feel I'm blowing this out of proportion & I really wish I could shake it.
TLDR: Rogue Shadow is a useless Twat!

[Mark_F]

Given that reporting such stuff can have very variable results, is there any room in your house where the noise doesn't penetrate so much that you could make your bedroom on the occasions they do this? (this depends on the layout of your house)

You could also as them to move their speakers elsewhere (or put them on mats) as their positioning may be making it worse for you than it needs to be.

Try not to let it get to you (easier said than done), you've manned up and had polite words (as much as you can reasonably do thus far).

[Alan1986]

Just read your post,

I can't be much help sorry, but you are not blowing it out of proportion

You shouldn't be made to feel you need to move from your own home, I am sure you worked hard to get to where you are,
Hopefully someone on here can offer some helpful advice
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

When music is playing knock on neighbours door and invite them into your home.

Or contact council also phone the police on 101 to log a complaint.
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[Rogerborg]

Shop them for dealing drugs.

The next time they do it, wait for 30 minutes after they've stopped, then crank up some bangin choons and go out for 12 hours.

Talk to them during the day when they're not off their tits. You can't bluster at this point, so try to be calm and reasonable and engender some human empathy.
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[grr666]

It's at times like this I'm glad I have a drumkit, several guitars and amplifiers, a motorcycle, and a smashing
home theatre system and Grand theft auto. However much of a dick a neighbour could be, I can be a bigger one.

In seriousness, you need to call the noise abatement team on the council, they will attend and possibly leave some
audio measuring equipment, but I'm afraid the road is a long one. You will need to keep a diary of how often it happens,
times dates durations and levels if they leave you a db measurer. Are they owners? Private tenants or council tenants?
Owners is your worst nightmare as they won't have any knid of tenancy agreement to adhere to. If private tenants
then contacting the landlord may yield success, and if council then they are who you need to hassle. A lot. It's the only
way you'll get any action out of them. For a council, eviction just means putting them elsewhere where they
will no doubt carry on the same behaviour. Start by contacting the noise team and see what they can do to assist you,
but it sounds likethey don't give a toss to me. Do you have a tame double hard looking bastard or two available?
Sometimes you can bypass all that paperwork by sending a thug over to have a word.
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[Azoth]

I don't agree that your only option is to get militant over the issue. People are becoming less tolerant of each other, and too many are bundled together in overcrowded places. This is a recipe for tension and social problems, and it's something to bear in mind. We should try to be patient with other people and take a step back and get a sense of perspective.

In this case, you haven't been shown respect and consideration by your neighbour. This has caused annoyance and stress. So much so, that you're looking to see if something can be done. This means that you consider that communications have broken down between you and your neighbour. Why should that be the case? Is there really a strong reason why you couldn't perhaps discuss it with them in a calm setting? I am sure that your neighbour sincerely believes it's you who is the one harassing them and not giving them enough space.

Why should you go back and try to communicate again with your neighbour?

1) Communications have been effective in the past. You stated that at first they would comply with your requests. This proves you can talk to them and they may be sympathetic.
2) The frequency and times when noise nuisance has occurred do not appear particularly bad. New Year's Day loud music at 2am - is that really a problem? People will party on NYD. You have, several times, referred to the nuisance as 'sporadic'. This means it's infrequent. Also, the times you have given us have been in the daytime and early evening before 11pm (the cutoff point for noise nuisance).
3) The use of third parties is, as you've stated, unlikely to be effective (the council may monitor the noise but not detect bass frequencies or there may simply not be any music on those days).
4) Calling the police is an attempt to force the issue, and will be deeply resented by a neighbour who probably feels aggrieved that you're harassing them with unreasonable complaints and demands.

Given that the noise nuisance is mostly during the daytime, unpredictable and sporadic, it would seem that unless you live in a gilded community, it's just a part of normal life. If the neighbours don't see things your way, you're going to have a lot of trouble getting your evidence and pursuing some sort of enforcement action. How about trying to befriend them, and getting them to agree to inform you next time they plan to have a party?
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[MCN]

There are a couple of fucktards moved in next door to me. The previous Neighbours were a delight but these idiots will have to be told sooner or later.
The only thing stopping me from 'going round to them' is that it is never a good thing to tell someone that they are being a twat/s and it can have very negatory consequences either you lose any neighbourliness that exits or the nuisance escalates as they see some sport in the disturbance caused.

I have had to 'move out' before as I would have been jailed if I had stayed. I always regretted not twating the prick out the back of his house where there would have been no witness.

Folk abuse the law by using psychological violence as that is not often prosecuted due to difficulties of evidence. Physical violence is normally prosecuted as evidence is easy to find.

You could try appealing to their better side but if they are anti-social then you may have to look for somewhere with a kinder environment.

You shouldn't have to move but sometimes it is better.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Hetzer]

A tactic that's worked for me more than once is a calm explanation of the concept of escalatory warfare ("I do your car, you do mine, I do your windows, you do mine...do we really want that in our lives?"). Other times it's three strikes and you're out (three attempts at being polite and reasonable, then the gloves come off).

If you don't have the capability for that kind of direct action you're basically fucked.
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[Saraya]

I can’t offer any advice, but feel for you as we’re in a similar situation. The previous family were antisocial, drunken fuckwits with feral children. Every type of noise 24-7, from arguing, kids on trampoline at 5:30am, yappy dog, everything with a volume control set to full blast and let’s just say she was a screamer... They were council/housing association tenants and council would do nothing unless 3 tenants complained. Nobody else would, as they were scared of them. Thankfully, they eventually moved as they kept breeding and got a bigger place.

The people that replaced them sound like your current neighbours, in that they’re horrendously noisy about once a month. Like you, we’ve sort of wussed out and are almost grateful for the situation – as at least it’s not every day. We just kind of ride it out now and know that at least once it’s over, we have a few weeks of peace until next time. It sucks and maybe we should put up more of a fight – but have decided that rolling with it is less hassle. It has the advantage in that once a month I can let Adrian Smith and Dave Murray’s guitars assault my ears at awesome decibels, without feeling guilty about it.

I think if it’s having a detrimental effect on your health though, you need to be a bit braver than us and start to put up a fight, through official channels.

[iooi]

Just remember if you go official, and then move. YOU WILL have to declare this at time of sale....
So could end up with a property that you won't get the price you want, or be able to sell.
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[Loui5D]

Order giant picture of nobcat, put in his garden.

If he doesn't then get the message behead a horse and stick the head on his lawn.

[MCN]

[Fizzoid]

I had a similar issue a few years back. Great neighbours moved out, nightmare neighbour moved in with her drum & bass banging at all hours

I did speak to the local council and they sent a couple of guys round eventually. I was lucky, when they arrived the music was blaring out so had a word with her

She was evicted later, but that was due to rent arrears

If you do speak to the council, exaggerate a little to get them to take action. I thought the bass would have been easy to monitor, my walls used to vibrate! Although, with it being a new/cheap build, they're probably only made from cardboard anyway

[P.]

Host the BCF BBQ. They'll move out.

[chris-red]

They party till 4am, you start your party at 7am.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
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[MCN]

[Rogerborg]

[ScaredyCat]

[stinkwheel]

Classical music has much more penetration than bass. I can recommend both Holsts "Mars- Bringer of War" and the 1812 overture.

I did that once but it was in student diggs. I probably wouldn't do it in a permanant house.

Roger has a good point about talking to them while they aren't full of m-cat/mandy/speed/ket/whatever. People who are fully fastered aren't going to listen to requests to turn the music down.

Talk to them rationally, during the day. Again, Mark_F has a good point about mats/spikes/speaker position. This would be a good, non-confrontational lead. Ask if you can help with their audio setup so it doesn't have such bad penetration through the walls/floor. Maybe even offer to pay for some insulating matting for behind/under their speakers.

They are pretty inconsiderate, but it often doesn't occurr to people that they might be disturbing their neighbours. I know my missus can be bad for this (started hoovering at 11pm the other night?!) and needs reminding occasionally. It's not necessarily deliberate.

I make sure I ask my neighbour if they are disturbed by any noise occasionally when I speak to him. I've got a home cinema system ond often watch films fairly late and I'm aware that the sound of the hulk smashing up New York could get somewhat annoying at 3am. We usually make a wee joke about the Mrs being a noisy shag and the kids being like a herd of elephants.
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[Rogerborg]

Huh. I've neither completed nor seen any such thing when selling or buying.

I suspect I would either just shred it, or fill in any parts that appear to benefit me as a seller, then ignore any further questions about it.

Since there's nothing on it saying that it's a complete declaration of facts, then emptor needs to caveat harder.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[ScaredyCat]

Many things are different up there when it comes to house buying. Still think we should have anti-gazumping laws down here.



For OP, Bass speakers playing low bass rumble then go out for the day.
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[stinkwheel]

[Monkeywrenche...]

If I had noisy neighbour the first person I'd ask is an internet motorbikes forum, in the hope of getting some sound advice about shitting on their lawn or somesuch.

or I might google and find some useful advice

https://asbhelp.co.uk/noisy-neighbours-noise/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwvIO_BRDt27qG3YX0w4wBEiQAsGu3edXFU_79eJ5xxGcgDfzGh-NCZYveXahocQr9ZuqqfS8aAssp8P8HAQ
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[hellkat]