There’s nothing like the ‘thud, thud, thud’ of the next-door neighbour’s music to keep you awake at night, and our research shows noisy neighbours bother most of us. So how do you get them to keep it down?
When our neighbours complained of ‘foot fall’ I thought they’d lost out on a financial investment.
Little did I know they were referring to the sound of my size-four feet echoing through the ceiling – although I imagine my boyfriend’s size 13s were more likely the cause!
Which? Legal Service published some research today suggesting five million people are currently affected by nuisance neighbours – are you? Apparently, the most common cause for complaining about neighbours is their noise.
Our research showed the top 10 irritants annoying neighbours are:
1. = Loud voices/arguing (38%)/Loud music/TV (38%)
3. Door slamming (27%)
4. Noise from pets (23%)
5. Noise from regular parties (21%)
6. People stomping around (20%)
7. People coming and going at all times of day (17%)
8. DIY noise (e.g drilling) (17%)
9. = Overgrown trees/hedges (15%)/Parking in my parking space (15%)
Shhh! The neighbours
I was nervous reading our report. In a quiet block of flats I’m pretty sure we’re the noisiest of the bunch! We don’t mean to be – we don’t party hard – we just seem to be the ones coming and going the most. And we’ve got friends and relatives with children who like nothing more than to run between rooms, ring the buzzer and jump on the furniture.
When my neighbours confronted me about our ‘foot fall’ I was a little tempted to question what on earth it is, but actually, it’s important they mentioned it. It would be a silly thing to fall out over. I had no idea they could hear us busying about above them and we’re far more careful about dashing about the flat now.
I’m very lucky to say that rarely in my life I have I been affected by noise from my neighbours. But I’ve friends who have been driven to distraction by their neighbours, a couple I know have moved house as a result.
And I regularly see posts on my friends’ Facebook status updates confirming Mr and Mrs Shoutey are at it again or looks like Mr B is in for another good night. Yes 5% of complaints about our neighbours relate to the sounds of them, er, having sex.
Resolve your dispute
So what can be done about noisy neighbours? Well, our advice is not to lose sleep over it. If you have an issue with a neighbour that you’d like some advice on, Which? Legal Service lawyers will be answering your questions on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 June. Why not resolve your nuisance neighbour issue by sending them a question?
Are your neighbours driving you to distraction? Have you got any good examples of how you resolved the issue?
What annoys you most about noisy neighbours?
Parties/loud music/TV (41%, 98 Votes)
Noise from pets (20%, 47 Votes)
Loud voices/arguing (14%, 33 Votes)
DIY noise (10%, 25 Votes)
Doors slamming (8%, 18 Votes)
People stomping around (8%, 18 Votes)
Total Voters: 239
