How I Dealt With Neighbours' Noise: A Case Study

Author: Sarah Clark

You don’t expect that when you move into your dream house, you will end up living next to somebody that makes your life a complete misery. That’s what happened to a couple from the South of England who moved into a new build in 2007, and found that their idea about starting a new life and settling down were ruined by Problem Neighbours.

“It was fine at first. We moved in on a Friday and didn’t see anybody for a few days. We didn’t hear anything from our new neighbours but that’s not really unusual. We just got on with moving in and assumed we’d bump into them and say hello around the place at some point.

“The first signs of trouble came with some loud music a few weeks after we’d moved in. We thought that they were having a party as the noise was so bad, but decided that we would write it off because we didn’t want to cause any trouble. If it was a one-off, it hardly seemed worth making a fuss."

“Then it happened again a few days later, along with some loud arguments and banging and crashing. We think that one of them moved out at that point, and that was when the problems really got bad. From that point we were listening to loud music until three or four in the morning most days, and we were constantly ratty and exhausted.

Taking the Appropriate Action

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“Eventually we plucked up the courage to speak to the neighbour. He was a youngish man but old enough to know better, and he wasn’t best pleased that we were complaining. I tried to be pleasant and make a joke of it, hoping that maybe he didn’t realise that he was causing so much trouble, and he appeared to take us seriously, but then within a few hours the noise was just as bad.

“After another week of incessant noise from the neighbour, we just couldn’t take it anymore. I wrote him a letter to say that we’d been tolerant, but that we were losing sleep and had to resolve this problem before it escalated into something legal. We mentioned that we would have to get in touch with the local Environmental Health Officer at the council if he didn’t turn his music down and restrict it to a reasonable time."

“We’d been to the local library and realised that we had Certain Rights Under The Noise Act 1996, so we quoted that in the letter, explaining that the environmental health officer had a legal obligation to deal with complaints about excessive noise, and that we were considering asking them if they would serve a noise abatement notice – which could lead to a fine if he carried on – or even the seizing of his stereo equipment."

“We added that we didn’t want to have to take this action, but that if he carried on with this level of noise we could see no alternative, as our sleep was suffering and his noise was affecting our quality of life."

“The letter seemed to do the trick! I can’t say that we are on friendly terms, but he has stopped the noise and playing the music every night now, and although it gets put back on occasionally, we can live with that. We didn’t want to have to involve anyone else, so I’m glad that we knew our legal rights about noise levels, and were able to write the letter instead of things getting even worse. And we’re getting some sleep again now!”

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Sound Meter and Noise Diary lets you use your phone or computer to measure noise levels and keep a dated record with notes. Export as evidence for your council or environmental health officer. All data stays on your device. Try it now →

20 Comments (of 181)

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Bach is my hero 7 Mar 2023

My horrible neighbours think they have a perfect right to play music so loud it penetrates the 2 foot party wall. I am dreading the summer when they will move outside and begin playing in the garden. I have made polite requests, threatened to call the environmental health officer, etc. etc. They respond with smarmy smiles or blank looks, and carry on as before. This has gone on for over a decade. The only answer when I am truly desperate is to blast 'em with baroque. Handel's Fireworks Music turned up loud will pretty much drown anything! NB Please do not send me marketing or other unsolicited e-mails.

Pammy 18 Dec 2022

Please can anyone offer advice! I've just worked my backside off for 2years and saved up to buy my own place. I moved into a ground floor apartment and upbove lives a family of 4 2 adults and 2 children. This child whose about 3 sounds like he has autism as he runs around, makes noises and bangs things continuously from 7am till 2am in the morning.I can't go to bed until he has stopped and he starts again all over in the morning. I work 6days a week and I'm shattered from this. My son has also missed college days as he's he not had sleep. They own the apartment. I've tried earplugs they don't drown out the banging and there's no where to escape.Please any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

ExHby 24 Mar 2022

My landlord reported my neighbours (private tenants) for a barking dog they were keeping in a one bed, first floor flat and they since took up causing me issues at home, this included lies to get police out and false statements of being followed. These lies had no proof, were dropped immediately and complaints to the police ombudsman found in my favour. However in the UK no action is taken against people for wasting police time. This went on for a year with me getting the council involved, submitting noise app recordings, that were listened to 9 mths after they were submitted, making a diary and by the time they went to do anything of any meaning (if not council tenants it’s very difficult to take action, apparently, even if the council is the freeholder ???????) I had decided to move as after that long of intermittent upset and the style of upset, there was a clear sign these people weren’t well. In short dont live in Islington, rubbish council, poorly put together properties, overpriced with poor sound insulation. Most importantly avoid council housing blocks and if you do find one google it, mine turned out to historically (90s/00s) be for people with mental health issues… mystery of strangely behaved noisy neighbours solved!!

cantwaittomove 7 Oct 2021

My neighbours are just awful, there are two teenage kids from a troubled background who live with their nan , the 18 year old lad grows cannabis which I discovered when i was furloughed last year, the noise from the fans all night from his growing activity , low frequency humming that drives you crazy, even with earplugs you can feel your jaw vibrating. There is an alleyway at the back which has a constant stream of people coming to buy cannabis and they whistle up to him as they dont use phones as they can be traced. His garden always has three or four hooded figures hanging about and they sit out until 3am smoking weed and gibbering like chimps shouting and swearing all night and now those silver gas capsules everywhere. I can even open my windows or put washing out as they throw stuff at it. I contacted the landlord and as punishment got my house flourbombed as a warning , I contacted the police and landlord and they just expect me to keep a diary, Im selling up but scared about putting a for sale sign up as I know they will play up to any prospective purchasers.

JB11 19 Sep 2021

I have a young female and young kid above my flat who make terrible noise . He runs everywhere thumping his feet like he has lead boots on and the mother has parties loud music different Male friends on a near weekly basis who do gardening and other jobs then I've to endure the bedroom antics at weekends with all these friends who do the jobs . She works with elderly in care homes but still lived as normal during lockdowns with parties and friends galore visitors etc whilst putting others at risk . What do you do with such a horrible person ? . Anyone who works with elderly putting them at risk during a pandemic with parties gatherings etc in my opinion isn't worth talking to or even trying to reason with . Selfish through and through clearly . Nobody in authority seems interested in complaints .

Samaritan 27 Aug 2021

In a tiny 2 bed terraced attached to me there are 5 adults, one toilet and shower . They rent from a family member who owns the house . The garden is awful as they also have 2 large colllie dogs . I honestly think when the census recently came round to be filled in i bet those living there didn't add their true names . I would love to find out but dont know how to . Anyone know . ?

Enough 14 Aug 2021

One of the biggest issues in my experience is New Build construction. Minimal soundproofing, despite it being classed as acceptable to acoustic measures. It's the bare minimum. Add a loud(er) neighbour and the party wall doesn't take this into account! Add noisy children - they tend to be, slamming of doors, scraping chairs, hard floors, booming tv's & Alexa... the list goes on & so do the problems. In a nutshell, it appears people aren't as quiet as they once were, in general and yet semi-detached, terrace & flats aren't equipped with insulation that can sound-out a loud sneeze or cough! New build's are constructed cheaply & very basically. Extra TRUE soundproofing is a luxury most cannot afford, if they could, they'd probably be in a position to own a detached. I fall into the 'cannot afford' category! As for help from Housing Associations & local council's to action anti-social noise... minimal. With a Housing Association, it's a process of, open a case, keep a diary, point a mobile phone at a party wall as close as you can for 30 seconds using an App (The Noise App) in an effort to obtain some evidence. At the beginning of the case opening, the person(s) making anti-social noise are contacted. They know a complaint has been made and in the 2 weeks of diary completion, you shall often end up with little evidence because the perpetrators have purposely gone quiet, since they know they are being monitored. The case is closed and there's simply very bad feeling left. After the monitoring period, the noise pollution starts again. Open another case. The system of reporting is shocking. If you are lucky enough to obtain evidence, then the neighbour receives a first warning. It's difficult to move to the next stage after this point. Involve the council, it begins again with a diary, they write to the neighbour. Council's state the Noise App is subjective. I would agree but it is a cheap method, putting the onus on you to have the device available to aim at walls for 30 seconds - not taking it into account that the phone is in use for work or study and you cannot spend every waking minute poised to do so. Housing Associations do have more sophisticated sound recording devices but try to get them set-up in your home? Near impossible. Of course, Covid 19 helped these agencies shirk responsibility for any systems of use. Abatement Orders - year's down the line if you even reach the stages of equipment seizure. Also, judges don't evict many. It's not in anybody's best interest to lose their home, especially as there is usually a list of excuses for behaviour and a matching box to tick. When you have neighbours that are yobbish, it's startling how they can fight the fight with some form of 'disability'. Complain to council's too much and from a written warning letter outcome (if you get that far) then, when you have finally lost most of your marbles and decided to try and sell - you have to declare the involvement of the council to pe

Bulldog01 31 Jul 2021

We have a family,next door they have 3 children under 5 yrs. The parents are school teachers and a nightmare to live next door to. They all bang doors,in/out of the house all day especially as the schools are closed. Children run up and down our driveway,scream talk very loudly.Balls,balloons,come over in to our garden.They use to have a cat when they first moved in.Poor cat was always meowing at our back door @ 5am. Never looked happy.Hardly surprising. I kid you not,my daughter and i counted how often the door banged,opened closed in 1 day last summer 50 odd times.I wrote down the times 9.20am - 5.20 pm.so when my husband got home i could account for being angry and tired.We cannot wait to move from these obnoxious neighbours.

Ash 23 Jul 2021

I moved into my new house in 2013 and loved it for 3 months until my new neighbours moved in, the lodger then thought that night it would be acceptable to start playing a drum kit at midnight!! They thought it was acceptable because the street was mostly “young people”! I complained tor around 4 months to the council/enviromental officer but was told to keep a diary which was difficult because i couldnt bare to be in the house and moved back to my parents. The noise was unbearable and not just the volume but you could feel it throughout the house so there was no getting away from it. I was a single girl living there on my own and it was causing me such anxiety having to keep going round to knock on the door to ask the two lads to be quiet! The council told them the noise level from a drum kit was unacceptable in a domestic house and that if they continued they would be fined £5k or have the equipment taken away. Luckily the lodger moved out shortly after this for a few years but has since moved back in a year ago, so far only a little noise nuisance but it gives me such severe anxiety im looking to put the house on the market now. Horrible that one person can completely affect the way you feel in your home which should be your sanctuary. I completely sympathise with anyone with awful neighbours.

V 15 Jun 2021

I’m 99% sure one of my neighbours has a vendetta against me. My partner and I are nice polite people, we keep ourselves to ourselves and try to stay out of people’s way. I have had my car tyres all punctured, twice!, while parked on the road (no driveway). The neighbour in question who also has no driveway always parks his giant van in the same spot on the road, right outside my house. He doesn’t work so it rarely moves but there were a couple of times I was able to park there last year and both times my tyres were all punctured overnight. That’s £400 worth of replacement tyres I had to pay for. Punctured probably by a dart the garage said. I’ve barely spoken to this man but for various reasons I am certain it was him. We have heard him telling lies about us to other neighbours. He doesn’t know anything about us. I have parked far out of the way since to avoid trouble and have had no issues... Until tonight when the road was full and I had no choice to park outside my own house(!). Less than an hour later, the van is back and my car has somehow moved itself several metres away. Do I report these things to the police? I have no evidence it is him. I am considering buying cctv on my credit card just to deter him but it may make him angrier and he seems like a dangerous individual. I am so out of pocket and wondering why me? I’m now desperate to sell my house that I worked so hard for 10 years to buy. I’m so sorry to all the others who are commenting here with their neighbour problems. It’s hard to realise there are so many vile people in this world.

Charli 2 Jun 2021

My neighbours moved in 4 years ago, a single Mum with 2 girls who are now 7 and 16. They were fine for a few months and we barely knew they were there but then every Thursday evening the Mum had friends around who would be screeching and shouting till the early hours of the morning, sometimes in the eldest girls bedroom. This went on for months but we put up with it, then it stopped and they started congregating on a Saturday instead. If the weather was warm they'd all be out in the garden and in the house with loud music. It gradually increased to 2 sometimes 3 nights a week. During the day there was arguments between the Mum and eldest daughter, or the Mum and the kids Dad where we could hear every single word. Then they mounted their tv on the chimney breast so we could hear the constant low hum over the noise of our own tv which is on a stand. We tried to ignore it but then the tv got louder and louder until it was possible to hear the commentary. My partner went and spoke to the neighbour and she was so sorry, she had no idea. It made no difference and the noise continued until one day last year when I banged on the wall and she came and banged on my door. We had it out and I'm sure we provided entertainment for the people across the road but I didn't care at this point and gave it to her with both barrels. There was crocodile tears and she told me how difficult it is being a single Mum but I told her I was a single Mum for 13 years and didn't use it as an excuse to make everyone elses lives hell. As soon as she realised I had zero sympathy for her she backed off. For the next few months it was great, she was considerate and it was bliss. The past few weeks it's all starting again and I'm a mess. I have spent almost all of my time in the bedroom because I can't stand being in the living room or dining room which is also my sewing room. I hate myself for letting it get to me again because it's nowhere near as bad as it was but I feel like I'm constantly waiting for that other shoe to drop. On Sunday her and the eldest girl were screaming at each other for over 3 hours and the whole street must have been able to hear it, then yesterday she was out all day and her eldest daughter now 16 was at home with the youngest now 7 and some other kids who were banging and screeching all day. We own our house, mortgage is all paid for, we're retired and want a quiet life but the garden is now off limits because of the noise next door. I'm on antidepressants and beta blockers and feel like I'm losing my mind.

Ameli 30 May 2021

I have two speakers which I place against the wall. They can share my music. One thing to realise is, you are on your own, for example music, the boom boom kind, started at midnight. I called the police, not open, called local authority, not open. Wrote complaints as I have done before but I expect no help and after six months I have received none. I want to avoid being caught up in never ending stress, a downward spiral, which has created a stroke recently, so I am thinking that I might have to move. They do not like meditation music, especially OM which you can get on you tube, anything peaceful disturbs a troubled soul. Remember, you are not dealing with civility and sometimes you are dealing with madness. Good luck.

Mono 28 May 2021

I'm sorry for you.My wife and I are going through similar at this point of time our neighbours have people from the street shouting and we've had this since they moved in a year ago.Theyve been around the street trying to turn people against us and succeeded.Im 70 plus my wife mid 60s.We have been through the police and environmental health and nothing has resolved.We want to move but finding it hard to find an affordable property. Hope life will be kinder to you.

Samaritan 28 May 2021

Oh my so delighful neighbours the ongoing story continues the vile creatures who lived next door to me for 3 years and partied each weekend for 15 hours a time moved out and moved her parents in , the apple doesnt fall far from the tree , the gardens front and back never been weeded or tidied , the fencing panels blown down and rotted , and now got a dog , its allowed to bark for as long as it wants while they sit inside watching tv or whatever , the dog sits 4ft from me hidden by my 5ft fence and goes on and on . Ive even bought a dog whistle to try to distact it but its not working . The delights of low frequency neighbours . Ive now got ear plugs to wear on a sunny day . Yes i know compared to what you are all suffering mines a holiday camp now but i needed to vent my pent up emotions . Sometimes im sick of this life its 4 and a half years on now and before they arrived i was a happy person getting on with my life at 71 All the best everyone my heart goes out to you x

Gilly 11 May 2021

Moved into what we thought perfect apartment in seaside village. Agent told us upstairs flat lived in Spain and only returned once a year for a month. Great we thought. Wrong, what we weren't told was every other week or so they let their friends use the flat. It's then we found out that theres no carpets, although we can't hear talking you can hear everything else, including every footstep if they need the bathroom in the night it wakes us them stomping across the floor. The washing machine and dishwasher noise vibrates and hums through the floor, scrapping of furniture and gosh why can't they just close the door, and not slam it 50 times a day. Anyway we moving in 5 weeks and I'm terrified it will be the same or worse. I'm pretty sure I'm now suffering from mental health issues. Good luck to you all. I feel your pain.

Noiseanxiety 19 Apr 2021

I can often hear the thump thump thump of music from the adjacent block of flats which shows how loud it is. I try to block it out with my TV (not so loud to disturb my block) and I wear ear plugs to sleep. But honestly it makes my anxiety go through the roof. I get up early for work (like lots of people) and the idea of a disturbed nights sleep is awful. I just dont understand how people who live so close to others can be so so selfish. There needs to be more done about noise complaints

Ev 25 Mar 2021

Hi I have a big problem With a neighbour who lives next to me. He sleeps all day doesent work and then he awakes. At 7pm at. Night and starts blasting music til 5 having lots of people in smoking drugs, drinking alcohol all night loudly shouting back and for all night slamming and banging. Told my landlord who hasn't done anything about it he just said your more than welcome to ring the police. Which I think is wrong why should I ring them he is the landlord he should sort it. I don't want to phone the police as the neighbour will know its me and will cause more of a atmosphere

Shaz 12 Mar 2021

What should I do with a noisy neighbour who live on top flat? They have got kids and they constantly running or jumping on the floor. Have spoken to them few time and also their landlord already but doesn’t seems like anyone cares.Luckily they don’t make noise after 9pm that’s why council can’t do anything about it.Even the noise is during the day still is so loud and nothing that we would be able to tolerate it. Please advise what should we do?

Sandy 27 Feb 2021

I have a solution for some of you. It's not a long term one but it will help you get a little peace every day, say, 1 or 2 hours of quiet time for you to read, paint, play or even nap. You cannot live with it permanently though, as you don't want to get used to it. A white noise machine - get the best you can afford - but - make sure it has the water sounds. Only water can truly mask noise. It blocks out outdoor noise 100% (cars, children screams, anti social behaviour, music) and indoors you will no longer hear anything from your neighbours unless it's something that you will FEEL. So, washing machines, music with bass - you will still feel those sounds so your brain might ' hear ' them but far less than you would without the sound machine, barely audible. You won't hear your neighbours' voices no matter how loud, and you won't hear them walking around. And if you don't have carpets, get some. Also add paintings to your walls, proper thick curtains (not the rollers), and anything that absorbs sound. What you don't want is an empty white room. The sound from the white noise machine is delightful, I love listening to water streams. It's perfect if you are working from home. For anyone dreaming of a detached house to escape noise, forget it, unless you have no neighbours. I know this myself, now in my 3rd detached house in the UK. It's all the same. People in detached houses have other issues to put up with - loud entertaining in garden (sometimes with live bands), spoiled rich kids with purpose built play areas, DIY (it's constant), and gardening noise (lawn mowers, trimmer, leaf blowers.. every season). And the worst thing is, you've invested your life savings and it's not easy to get out. Your neighbours will own their house so there can be no eviction, and the police cannot do much except stop drunken parties, if you're lucky. Also, you will still hear impact sound! (the bangs you all describe) Whenever your neighbour closes his gate it will vibrate through your house too, and worse, basketball and other ball games, the noise vibrates right through our detached house. And there is nothing you can do about it as it's not considered a noise nuisance. Don't gamble. If you want a quiet house, you have to go rural and find a spot you know they won't develop on and build anything that can be of nuisance. Or try tiny house living, and more importantly, learn to be self sufficient before you make that move. Try a few courses, learn to grow your own food, learn to fix things yourself. It's worth it. We're making that move after covid, as heartbreaking as it is because we otherwise love our home and town. People are selfish and it's not getting any better with every passing decade.

Hooty 15 Jan 2021

I have a problem at rancho valencia resort. The yoga building is below us. Only class at 845 every morning is driving me crazy. The instructor yells one two three yea for one hour it comes thru our family room kitchen. Some days goes thrust to back yard. They say it’s no problem. All other classes are quiet. Who do you call. I turn my music up very loud so I can stand being in the house

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