QUESTION
The people upstairs are extremely noisy, can I do anything about it?
ANSWER In most cases the terms of any leases state that noise should be kept to a minimum between the hours of 11pm and 9am and that a resident is entitled to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their property. If the noise is occurring between these hours then the first thing that I always suggest is to knock on the door and speak to the people in the flat above. It is usually the case that they do not know that they are being noisy and that once you have bought it to their attention they are extremely embarrassed and apologise profusely, the end result being that they are more careful about the amount of noise they are making. If this does not work then I would suggest that you contact your local council and speak to the environmental health department and speak to the noise pollution department. They will send an agent down to the property to assess the noise and speak to the noise offenders. Alternatively, you can ring your managing agent and ask them to write a letter to the lessee of the flat above asking them to desist from making too much noise. However, I would always avoid this course of action, as, should this situation worsen, it would be viewed as a dispute. When solicitors draw up their enquiries they frequently ask for knowledge of any disputes and obviously it is the duty of the person answering these questions to be honest about the situation as they could be held accountable in the future for omitting relevant information.
Thanks to Sarah Fisher, of Smith Melzack Pepper Angliss , for answering our readers’ questions
