Excessive noise pollution from neighbours is not only annoying, with time it can also begin to negatively impact your health and wellbeing.
Even your dream home can turn into a nightmare if the wrong people move in next door. Whether it’s all-night parties, arguments, barking dogs or musical instruments, here are your options for dealing with noisy neighbours.
Communicate calmly
In most cases, people don’t even realise that their actions are disturbing those around them. The very first thing to do if your neighbours’ noise is disturbing you is to pop round and have a word with them face to face.
Make sure that you’re polite, amiable and calm and provide examples of times when their noise has disturbed you and how it has affected you or your family. Try to avoid letting the conversation turn confrontational.
Report noise to the council or a private landlord
If you have tried speaking to your neighbour about their noise to no avail, you may wish to report their behaviour to their landlord or to the council.
Before doing so it can be useful to keep a noise diary of all disturbances so that you have specific examples to talk about. The council has a duty to investigate activity that can be classed as a ‘statutory nuisance’, such as excessive noise.
If the property is privately rented, then your neighbour may be breaching a clause in their tenancy agreement.
Bear in mind that reporting your neighbours can raise tensions and it’s always best to try to resolve the problem between the two of you first if possible.
Mediation
Mediation is a process where parties meet up, usually in a neutral environment, and communicate to resolve a disagreement. Mediation is controlled by a trained independent third party and you may be required to pay for the service.
Go to court
Taking your neighbour to court should only be used as a very last resort. The process can be time-consuming, costly and very messy.
Install sound insulation on your home
It may not be that your neighbours are excessively noisy, it could just be that you have paper thin walls. If you can hear every cough and sneeze from next door, then the chances are that they can hear you too. If you plan on staying in the same house for the foreseeable future then installing sound insulation in your home could be a good investment for the future.