Noisy neighbours

[Kenbo]

Hi all
We live in a semi-detached house built in 1992.We have two young children aged 15 and 8.The house attached to us has been owned by a landlady for the last 15 years, and during that time we have had noise issues with the tenants on a regular basis during that time.

However in the last six months the situation has gotten much worse with the latest tenants( a family of two adults and 5 children) with screaming, shouting,doors banging,"chasing",running up and down stairs late at night etc.etc.They do not have a T.V. or music system but are very noisy especially between 10 and 12 at night.We have contacted the landlady and she has told us she wants nothing to do with problems of the tenants and has said she wants to "wash her hands" of the problem but retain the tenants as they pay the rent on time and are good tenants.

She has asked her tenants to keep the noise down but this only lasts a day at most.We have had to vacate the main bedroom next to the dividing wall to get a nights sleep and when we do use the main bedroom we have to use ear plugs.#

We have done all the usual stuff like contacting the Guards and are keeping a diary but we are reluctant to go the Court route due to costs and the time involved. when approached accused us of harrassement.The houses are poorly sound insulated and noise does carry as there appears to be no cavity wall between the houses just a solid block wall laid end to end.

Any advise on how to proceed? PTRB seems to be in-effectual and we can't find the house on their database.We are thinking of retro-fitting sound insulating board but don't know if this will work or be just be a waste of money.

We have the landladies 'phone number and have rang and left a message but did not even get a reply.We have put up with this situation for the last 15 years on and off and it seems to be close to breaking point now. We have actually thought of selling up and cutting our losses but are reluctant to give in as we are not the instigators of the problem.

The Community Guard is due to call at the weekend and will let us know his findings.Meanwhile we have to endure sleepless nights. Any advise on which way to proceed would be greatly appreciated as this problem is begining to get the better of us.

 

[ALEXA]

Although the landlady says she wants to wash her hands of all problems with the noisy tenants, she is responsible for dealing with the problem and if she and the tenants have drawn up an official lease one of the conditions in the lease refers to unacceptable behavoiur and consideration for neighbours. As you did not find her property on the PTRB data base the chances are that she is not registered and this in itself is now illegal. She may also not be declaring the income from the rent to Renenue. I think if I were in your position I would contact the PTRB and get their advice if you have not done so already. If you have an address for the landlady you should put your concerns in writing and let her know you are contacting the PTRB and possibly Revenue!!!. This may prompt her to do something to address the dreadful situation which she has allowed continue for years at your expense. If you don't have her address perhaps you could send the letter to the rented house and the tenants could pass it on to her. You have tolerated this situation for long enough and if the landlady is unwilling to do anything, you may have no choice but to contact a solicitor about the problem. I wish you well and hope that you can find a solution.

 

[Sue Ellen]

Hi,

Been there, done that etc. Only got peace and quiet when house sold. 14 years of noise on and off! Polish tenants were the quietest.

These previous threads are examples and if you run the search option there are many others:


http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthr...ours+from+hell

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthr...ght=neighbours

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=167587&highlight=noisy+neighbours

This information on Citizen's Info may help.

Noise Regulations in Ireland in particular should help.

Cork County Council offer this leaflet

Hayes Solicitors show this also.


Hope you get it sorted as it can upset the whole family and its only when you have gone through this situation that you appreciate how upsetting and annoying it can be.

 

[Kenbo]

Hi all
Thanks for useful information and time taken to gather it.However the Guards are calling this evening and we have decided to "engineer" out this problem as it is not possible to deal with the situation in the normal way.So any advise on where to start?Going to try to put sound insulation on the walls and at the joists and at the party wall in the attic.What is the best depth of insulation and brand?Floor and wall junction to be sealed,Has any one sucessfully done this work before?
Hard pill to swallow but need to do it for our mental health!
Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[Sue Ellen]

Hi again Kenbo,

I think you're absolutely mad to go down this route because as far as I can recall from previous threads it is an expensive and dirty job and not always successful. Our neighbours did some work and we can still hear noise.

If you you will find a few threads on sound proofing and separately sound insulation (my search will probably provide too many pages). You could do the same in the Tradesmen and Suppliers forum.

These posts in particular might help

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showpost.php?p=116445&postcount=2

http://www.askaboutmoney.com//showpost.php?p=23247&postcount=17


I understand there are also discussions on this subject over on www.boards.ie

Hope this helps.

 

[truthseeker]

Kenbo - I dont get it, you wont go the court route because of cost and time involved but you will go to the expense and hassle of sound proofing your own home? This makes no sense - you are still going to be able to hear these people.

Why not get onto PRTB? I had problems with noisy neighbours and we had a complaint in with PRTB and had notified the landlord that we would take it to court - he simply didnt renew their lease when it came up because it was causing him hassle.

I would be escalating this issue right back to the landlady each time. Make it a problem for her and she might do something about sorting it out. Phone her EVERY time there is noise. Get her address and write to her every time. Go to her house and wake her at an ungodly hour to complain that you have been woken at an ungodly hour.

 

[homeland]

homeland

Send the kids to the grandparents for the weekend. Set your clock for 2am. Blast your music for at least a half hour. Do the same the next night. Make as much noise as you can with the TV during the week. Have a party. Perhaps they do not understand how annoying their unsocial noise can be.

 

[Spear]

Send the kids to the grandparents for the weekend. Set your clock for 2am. Blast your music for at least a half hour. Do the same the next night. Make as much noise as you can with the TV during the week. Have a party. Perhaps they do not understand how annoying their unsocial noise can be.

I don't agree with that: it could escalate.

 

[Sue Ellen]

I don't agree with that: it could escalate.

Agree and it just makes the situation more stressful. A relative of mine used to set his music on loudly during the day to get even with his neighbours after one of their many parties. He had to walk the streets because he couldn't stick the loud music himself and this happened regularly.

I do agree with truthseeker that the responsibility needs to go back to the landlord/landlady. I got a hold of their number and rang them any time a party took place or the music came on loudly at all hours of the morning. We also had them smash windows on occasions when they were too drunk to find their keys.

Our Community Garda spoke with the tenants and the landlord to try to resolve the problem.

 

[truthseeker]

Send the kids to the grandparents for the weekend. Set your clock for 2am. Blast your music for at least a half hour. Do the same the next night. Make as much noise as you can with the TV during the week. Have a party. Perhaps they do not understand how annoying their unsocial noise can be.

Absolutely not - terrible advice. Lowering yourself to the level of the anti social behaviour next door is not going to do you any favours in the event of you taking it to court.
Besides the fact that noise is the issue - so Im sure the OP does not want to be enduring any more of it.
And it could escalate.

Making it the landladys problem is the only way to get it resolved. Find out where she lives and start calling round, writing to her, etc...

Make plenty of noise yourself with PRTB, Revenue, the Guards, the noise pollution section of the Local Authority etc...

 

[Kenbo]

Hi all
We had the Community Guard call to our neighbours last Friday night and the problem has reduced for now.He says that is all he can do "for the moment".However, the situation could worsen as the tenants may change next week or next year.Meanwhile the landlady gets away scott free while collecting an easy €1,000-€1,200 per month while putting zero back into the house.I feel she has a contact in the local station as the matter has been taken very lightly over the years.By rights she should pay to have her side of the dividing wall sound-proofed as there is an obvious problem with the houses as we can hear people sneeze at night as well as toilets flush/plugs going into the wall etc etc.I will follow up with the PTRB and/or Revenue and also my own Solictor if things start off again.Meanwhile I am going to price soundproofing as the only positive step I can take that will make a certain difference.All we want is a nights sleep.Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Odea]

Hi all
However, the situation could worsen as the tenants may change next week or next year.

That's what happens when you live next door to a rental. I have lived beside a rented house for 17 years now with about 7 different tenants over that term. The latest renters like to kick their football against our wooden fence, allow their dog to "bark", park their car outside our house and recent visitors to their house when leaving at 3 a.m. made sure they they were talking/shouting at the top of their voices before they drove away beeping their car horns. Gardening is practically non existant and we suffer their overgrown hedges, trees and ivy invading our garden. Not the worst by any means but each changeover of tenants is a cause of concern to us. Each lot of 7 tenants has been different and each has been selfish in their own way. So far we have probably had 50% good and 50% bad.

 

[Sue Ellen]

I have lived beside a rented house for 17 years now with about 7 different tenants over that term.

Our most frightening heart stopping moment was when at the height of the boom people were nearly queueing up to view. 2 cars pulled up and about 8 students bailed out to go in and view. Luckily enough the landlord didn't want them and gave it to someone else.

Not all students can be troublesome though as we had one group who were very quiet and went home every week-end. Unfortunately they only stayed for one year.

 

[IsleOfMan]

I like the occasional smell of a back garden BBQ. We had a neighbour who lit his BBQ several days a week over a long summer. I got to hate that smell as it invaded every nook and cranny of our house every time it was lit.
The worst was the children kicking their football against our detached shared garage wall. It reverbated through our house late in to the long summer evenings.

 

[dubgem]

In fairness, any neighbour can be noisy (or have barbecues, or kids, or whatever) but at least with a rental you can live in hope that the current tenants will move out and be replaced by quieter, less barbecue enamoured ones. If your neighbour owns their home you are more likely to be stuck with them for life.

Regarding putting in soundproofing on your side of the party wall, it seems to me like a good investment as there will most likely be somebody living next door and it is unlikely they will be completely silent. Also I imagine if you are selling your house down the line extra soundproofing will be a selling point.