You don’t want to be labelled a complainer, but sometimes your neighbours’ children can be more of a nuisance than a blessing. Older neighbours may remember a time when you could pay an unruly child’s parents a visit and you would know that any issues would be swiftly resolved, but these days you have to be extremely wary of what you say and do about children in the neighbourhood.
What to Do About Noisy Children
Whether you appreciate it or not, there’s not much that you can do about excessive noise during the day from children. Kids are exuberant by nature and it would seem a little bit churlish to try to curb normal noise levels, even if the screaming and shouting is getting a bit too much.
If it really is becoming an issue, your only course of action is to ask their parents nicely to have a word with them. If you work shifts or simply need peace and quiet to concentrate while working at home, a quiet word might be the best way forward. Explaining that you need to sleep some afternoons may make the parents try to keep their offspring’s noise down.
Noise is a common complaint – recent research by Noise Concern revealed that 43% of people had been bothered by some form of neighbour noise.
Excessive noise levels were also blamed for forcing about half a million people to move in 2006, just to get away from their annoying and Noisy Neighbours, according the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA). At the time, their representative Mary Stevens said that many problems with neighbours were simply a result of being inconsiderate, and could easily be resolved by using a little common sense...
What to Do if Children Damage Your Property
Your first course of action, especially if the damage was clearly accidental, is to make a conciliatory approach to the child’s parents.
As far as the law is concerned, you can technically sue a child for the cost of the damage if they are old enough to understand what they were doing, but this kind of legal action is rare and somewhat frowned upon by the courts. It’s also a fact that not many children have the cash lying around in their piggy bank to pay for the cost of a broken window!
If damage has been done, and an approach to the perpetrator’s parents hasn’t been successful, you can consider suing the parents of the child. This is only appropriate in cases where there has been negligence on behalf of the parent(s) – for example, if they trusted their child with something dangerous like an air gun. They could also be considered liable for the damages if you can prove that they failed to exercise the control expected of a parent, given the child’s age.
“Can I Have my Ball Back?”
It can be irritating but it’s just a fact of neighbourhood life that kids playing ball games will occasionally mislay one into your garden. If children throw or kick a ball into your garden or onto your property, you should hand it back to them, keep hold of it for them to collect from you, or throw it back over if you find it later on.
The children should not trespass onto your property to pick it up, although in practice many probably do. If there is any damage to your garden caused by kids trampling over it, you would be entitled to compensation for any financial damages that were caused.
I have the same problem as Lella. Teens about 13 congregating in the road and the parents do not give a damn, that they swear, abuse and throw things at other residents in the road. They bully younger children verbally and try and run kids of 6 over with their bikes and scooters. Worse is that the majority are girls! I get bottles and cans thrown at me all the time and I hate going outside just to go to the shop or take my little ones to school. Our car has been damaged, trespassing, and they knock on our door for hours on end and sit on our step. No asking politely ever works and we have to wait until they get bored and go. They are not frightened of adults what so ever and altercations with parents result often with just about everyone in the street fed up. Litter abounds and the noise is a pain. I love to be called a "scab" and the lovely "c" word every morning in the presence of my own kids. Its a horrible thing to live with and our human rights have been violated, As for parents who say they have no where to play or nothing to do. I say to you my kids don`t do this and neither do the majority so why is it ok for this group to be excused because the council has not supplied a hanging out place for them to torch. Its parenting that's the issue. Half of these kids in my road have parents that do not give a toss that they are vandalizing and bullying other residents. It starts at home folks. I miss the days of a good wallop. Because frankly I have complained to police, council and housing associations. Guess what? Supply enough paperwork they may look into it? Its disgusting. We as adults can not take teens on due to the high possibility of being targeted or injured. Whose running the show? Kids!
Bob - 6 October 2011 @ 10:17 PM
I have a problem with the neighbourhood kids - mainly the children of two of the houses on our street. Their ages vary, between 8 to 16. They are rude, they stop in the middle of the street when you are trying to drive by, they make faces, shout abusive names. Their parents don't seem to be any better. I live in a semi-detached house, with a large front gate, and at any opportunity they they try to come inside my property (i.e. they will follow the shopping delivery man, or the postman, and when I ask for them to leave, they just reply "why?" "we are just looking", and start laughing, etc. it is very annoying. We are a standard family, myself, my husband and our two small children (4 and 1). I don't want to be the one that picks on the neighbourhood kids, but it is very intimidating. Funny enough they don't seem to do the same with my husband.
Lella - 11 August 2011 @ 8:36 PM
Like mogs statement I have an issue also with kids above, albeit there is inferior wooden flooring which contributes to the noise, the council have agreed that the occupants are causing anti social behaviour in other capacities, and have issued a written warning and advised the landlord (DSS occupied) to put down flooring with a better acoustic underlay, which is still to be addressed ! the council tell you in one hand that I have the right to a quality of life in my own appartment yet after issueing a written warning now decide that its the landlord responsibility to deal with it, selective decisions if you ask me.
tenbobblind - 21 June 2011 @ 11:14 AM
I am the VP of our association. We recently have a member sending us letters regarding problems with local teens, breaking mail boxes, knocking on their door, driving over their property and cursing them out etc. They are asking for our help in resoulving this matter and I have given some suggestions, however I would love to hear some of your suggestions should you have any. thank you.
Rhino - 17 June 2011 @ 1:23 PM
Great information, but what do you do when you have 3 boys under 12, being kept in to play in a first floor flat which they then use as not just a race track for running about, but a football pitch, a scooter park and a jumping pit?The parent seems at times to encourage the behaviour and next attempts to curb or stop it. The lunatics really have taken over the asylum.
