Moaning neighbour

[aceyoung1]

Hi, ive got a problem with a new neighbour. She lives next door and complains all the time that we make to much noise. She constantly bangs on our door to complain. The trouble is most of the time we are not making any noise at all. We have lived in our house for almost a year and nobody has complained before and now this woman who has lived there for two months has complained 5 or 6 times. Iam just after some advise on what she could do and any laws that I should know that could protect us. I would just like to firmly establish that are not making any noise.

[andy hughes]

Next time she complains, ask her politely what noise she can hear, and from where. Depending on the outcome of this conversation, and you need to keep it very calm and polite to avoid escalation into a 'neighbour-from-hell' situation - keep a diary of the dates and times she complains, and details of her specific complaint. Alongiside her complaint details, keep a log of exactly what you were doing at the time - TV or radio on, in or out of the house, and so on, and if it goes further, you'll have some ammunition on your side. If she persist, get in first - go to your local Council and find out where you stand on harrassment issues. Good luck.

[j2buttonsw]

Lets get this right: She's a "new neighbour" that "complains all the time" and "constantly bangs on our door". Is this the same neighbour that has "lived there for 2 months" and has "complained 5 or 6 times"? Just because no one else has complained doesn't mean you are not noisy. "Most of the time we are not making any noise at all", so do you admit that you are noisy sometimes?

[aceyoung1]

You don't quite get the concept of this site do you j2buttonsw? you're supposed to post answers. Thanks for trying though.

[sarahthelion]

ah!  Totally agree, most important of all is be nice, don't get cross.  Neighbour-noise issues are an integral part of living in the city.  Next time she complains, invite her in and show her what you're doing (if it's nothing embarassing!), or ask if you can go into her flat and hear what she can hear.   I have had noisy upstairs neighbours twice and have invited them in to let them hear what it's like and they have been very gracious and have changed their habits.  

If that fails, I think most borough councils have a full time officer who will come and adjudicate on noise issues - they come round with a meter and can be a good neutral opinion.  Ring up the council and ask to speak to him/her.   Good luck!

[psychologist]

For one thing you probably have lousy insulation between the houses.

Secondly your neighbour is likely suffering from Hyperacusis, a condition most often these days caused by over exposure to noise. This could have been initiated at her previous address.

Even though you dont consider yourselves to be loud imagine living alone and being able to hear muffled tv, music, footsteps, banging doors etc through the wall, especially when trying to sleep. Modern music which uses bass that really vibrates through concrete is particularly distressing as are kids running up and down stairs.

The first problem is that councils and housing trusts often place people beside each other regardless of whether they are single or in families, young or old. Most older people need more peace and quiet than young people especially if they are suffering stress.

Ideally the lady needs to be rehoused somewhere more quiet, preferable alongside older people....even if she is a younger sufferer.

Quite scandalously Margaret Thatchers government worked with the Building Industry to change the law and lower standards of sound levels for Council officers measuring sound pollution. This helped Councils and Housing Trusts to escape their duty to insulate for noise. So recourse to noise abatement officers would probably not solve her problem.

The answer is for the lady to be rehoused in a quieter place. In the meantime she will become increasingly stressed and distressed.