How to deal with noisy neighbours
Jul 3rd, 2008 | By admin | Category: how toDo you remember the saying you never know what you had until you’ve lost it. Well one things for sure and I’m sure you’ll agree with me on this one. Losing noisy neighbours is one thing we would gladly all lose.
It can drive you crazy living with noisy neighbours, it can affect your quality of life and place you under undue stress. Whether it be neighbours who feel its ok to frequently host crazy parties or couples who find it impossible to communicate any other way than by throwing obscene profanities at each other 24 hours a day.
You’re probably thinking at this point that I’m some dithering old person who doesn’t have a life, well I’m not, well at least not an old dithering person anyway. I’m writing this because I’ve had more than my fair share of noisy inconsiderate neighbours. In fact I feel like I’ve been cursed ever since I’ve moved out. Almost every where I’ve moved I’ve been blessed by having noisy neighbours. That’s why I’m writing this really, I’m hoping it will provide a therapeutic outlet and at the same time give you some helpful advice on how best to deal with noisy neighbours.
My first piece of advice is to communicate; most people are unaware of how much noise they are actually making so by simply communicating with them on an informal level you can sometimes clear up the whole situation. You can do this by either writing a letter stating who you are and why you are writing to them. Most people are averse to confrontational situations so this is a good way of getting your point across in a passive manner.
If they persist you should knock on their door and politely ask them to keep the noise down. It’s important to note that you should not come across in a way that seems like you are complaining; no matter how angry you are this could cause a confrontation and make matters worse. At the same time you should not be apologetic or unconfident, otherwise you might come across as a weak person and they may not take you seriously. The best way to act is be confident and hold eye contact.
The next option should the problem persist is to contact your Local Authority Environmental Health Section/Department. They will ask you to provide full details and keep a diary of all noise, if you haven’t done so already.
You should ask them about what you must do and the procedures that must be followed in order to take the complaint forward. They have a duty to look into the matter on your behalf as your local authority. They have the power to fine and remove noisy equipment and in some cases even evict tenants.
If the local authority can not do anything, you have the right to take the matter into your own hands and seek legal advice. Before you do this you should check your home insurance policies to see if they cover you for legal expenses in this situation.
Please be aware that if you seek legal advice first and check your insurance shortly afterwards you will in effect void any legal cover provided by your home insurance company.
If you know that the offending neighbours are renting the property you should try and contact the landlord, because they have an obligation to make sure that the tenant is respectful of neighbours. Also a lot of tenancy agreements have clauses in them that state that the tenant should be considerate of neighbours around them. This means the noisy neighbours could be in breach of the agreement.
Another thing is that if the neighbour confronts you in an aggressive way you should log a complaint with the police and maybe ask for a community officer to be assigned to your case. It is unlikely that they will do much at first unless they are being physically intimidating. However, by logging a series of complaints you are building a record of events that will help the police draw a picture of the situation that will work in your favour. If this is the case and you have to talk to them in person you should ask the police to accompany you to talk about the situation with the neighbour they can act a s a barrier between you and the offending noisy neighbour.
Nowadays, you can obtain conciliation or mediation services which help resolve these situations. I found a company that handles all kinds of disputes. www.ukmediation.net
Related posts: