Noisy Neighbours

Conrad83

Hi,

Just looking for a bit of advice on some noisy neighbours.

We have been renting an apartment since September in a very nice quiet development. Over the past few weeks new people seem to have moved in above us as we have noticed an awful lot of noise. Late at night and early in the morning. Their balcony is above our bedroom and they are often out there talking or shouting extremely loudly at all hours. I was awoken at 4.30am on Sunday morning with the noise even though I have started wearing earplugs. There also seems to be constant banging. It sounds like Riverdance are rehearsing up there! Last night was the final straw when they seemed to have a party and music was blaring all night, various trips to the balcony with numerous people out on the balcony all night.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Can I complain to the mgmt company? I assume it's nothing to do with our landlord?

Thanks.

spaceHopper

First knock on their door and let them know. They might not realise. Then if noting improves call the management company

oLoonatic

spaceHopper wrote: »

First knock on their door and let them know. They might not realise. Then if noting improves call the management company

I'd also go with this, you may not like confrontation but it is the best approach. at least you know what you are dealing with then.

beoir

**** one. Apartment living is a dose!

Definitely try the neighbourly approach first.

The management company only has so much in terms of power to address noise issues, but they will likely contact the landlord/letting agent for the house above and should send a formal letter.

Your best bet is to start keeping a log of the problems, notify the managing agency on every occurrance. the email records will suffice if (god forbid) you need to go to the RTB.

Ultimately the landlords above have to deal with noise complaints as this is a breach of the tenancy. If the lads upstairs continue to breach the tenancy (and your right to your quiet enjoyment of your home) then their tenancy can be terminated.

The best time to act is straight away if you get nothing back from below and this issue doesnt get sorted by the weekend. Get in touch with the landlords via the agents to inform them of the problems - landlords dont need to give a reason for termination prior to 6 months, just 28 days notice... and if the tenants are breaching the tenancy... then they havent a leg to stand on (if the landlord upstairs cares enough)

A breach notice from the landlords is usually the best way forward as with the current housing crisis, nobody wants to lose their home.

Conrad83

Thanks for the replies.

I don't even know the number of their apartment to call up to them. We are ground floor and they are above us. The alternative I guess is to pop out to our balcony when they are out there and ask them to keep it down (politely).

It is so frustrating and I don't see how they couldn't realise how loud they are being. They were out sweeping their balcony at 9am last Sunday morning ffs. We said we would give them the benefit of the doubt for the first couple of weeks with it being Christmas etc and we thought the loud banging could be putting new furniture together with moving in. They are constantly out on their balcony at all hours of the day and night I don't know if they ever sleep!!

We are fed up now though and would like it nipped in the bud whatever way that may be.

Caranica

Technically you should go through your landlord, the management agency are not bound to assist tenants but many will.

The agency will have maps of the development which should help to identify the unit. I'd be inclined to disagree with the answers that say to knock on the door - if they're the type of people who don't care about disrupting neighbours they're the type of person who may decide to make it personal. The management agent can use vague terms like "units in the development" rather than identify your specific unit.

Spanish Eyes

I sympathise with you.

But you surely cannot be the ONLY residents disturbed by this noise?

Ask around and see if other neighbours are bothered, and if so, approach together.

Shop40

Hi Op,
I have been in a similar situation, dog left out on the balcony barking at night, parties etc. My partner knocked on their door one afternoon and very politely explained the situation. Neighbour got defensive and patronising with him. Things improved for a few weeks and then the noise started again. Like yourself, we couldn’t cope with the lack of sleep. Got in touch with the neighbour’s letting agency. They told us to keep a record of noise - times and exact details- over a two week period. Did this and passed on to agency, who then gave neighbour a call.
Now I would say things are better but not as much as I’d like. We moved into the smaller bedroom which is quieter, not ideal.
One thing I would say is that some posters are advising you to confront the neighbour yourself. From my experience I would advise you not to. Chances are if they are that inconsiderate, they might very well be insulting/ aggressive or difficult. You don’t want to be dealing with that. My partner was overly polite with our neighbour and she still reacted aggressively. To this day she gives us dirty looks!
Go through agency/management company, and have details of dates and times ready for when you make the call.
Good luck!!

Conrad83

Shop40 wrote: »

Hi Op,
I have been in a similar situation, dog left out on the balcony barking at night, parties etc. My partner knocked on their door one afternoon and very politely explained the situation. Neighbour got defensive and patronising with him. Things improved for a few weeks and then the noise started again. Like yourself, we couldn’t cope with the lack of sleep. Got in touch with the neighbour’s letting agency. They told us to keep a record of noise - times and exact details- over a two week period. Did this and passed on to agency, who then gave neighbour a call.
Now I would say things are better but not as much as I’d like. We moved into the smaller bedroom which is quieter, not ideal.
One thing I would say is that some posters are advising you to confront the neighbour yourself. From my experience I would advise you not to. Chances are if they are that inconsiderate, they might very well be insulting/ aggressive or difficult. You don’t want to be dealing with that. My partner was overly polite with our neighbour and she still reacted aggressively. To this day she gives us dirty looks!
Go through agency/management company, and have details of dates and times ready for when you make the call.
Good luck!!

This is what I'm afraid of. Confronting them could go either way and make our lives worse! I think I am leaning towards an email to the management company. I already have some times and incidents logged.

Our landlord told us previously that the mgmt company are excellent and 'Don't take any ****' so hopefully they will deal with it asap. It is a very quiet development with a lot of young families and couples so I am sure we won't be the first ones to raise the issue. It is exceptionally bad for us as their balcony (which they seem to live on) is right over our bedroom. It is no doubt affecting others too.

Muahahaha

If they're using their balcony a lot during winter then the warmer evenings in summer are going to get even worse. I wouldn't confront them via your own balcony, especially not as they may have drink taken and they could overreact and then you have a war on your hands. Approach them at their door early evening on a weekday. The layout of the floor above you is likely the same as your own floor so it shouldnt be too difficult to figure out their front door.

Also while standing at their door use the opportunity to take note if they have wooden floors or carpet. If its wooden then that would explain why you feel its like Riverdance above you. Many Mgmt Co rules forbid the use of wooden floors in apartments but some people ignore it and install them to the detriment of their neighbours.

Mad_maxx

Shop40 wrote: »

Hi Op,
I have been in a similar situation, dog left out on the balcony barking at night, parties etc. My partner knocked on their door one afternoon and very politely explained the situation. Neighbour got defensive and patronising with him. Things improved for a few weeks and then the noise started again. Like yourself, we couldn’t cope with the lack of sleep. Got in touch with the neighbour’s letting agency. They told us to keep a record of noise - times and exact details- over a two week period. Did this and passed on to agency, who then gave neighbour a call.
Now I would say things are better but not as much as I’d like. We moved into the smaller bedroom which is quieter, not ideal.
One thing I would say is that some posters are advising you to confront the neighbour yourself. From my experience I would advise you not to. Chances are if they are that inconsiderate, they might very well be insulting/ aggressive or difficult. You don’t want to be dealing with that. My partner was overly polite with our neighbour and she still reacted aggressively. To this day she gives us dirty looks!
Go through agency/management company, and have details of dates and times ready for when you make the call.
Good luck!!

The kind of people who are inconsiderate enough in the first place to impose their noise racket upon others are never going to be reasonable when confronted, in fact, being nice and polite only emboldens them, you have two choices, go the route of officialdom and be prepared to wait or take them head on in a firm manner

Your usually dealing people who have an equal balance of arrogance and boorishness so being polite is a complete waste of time

Graces7

Mad_maxx wrote: »

The kind of people who are inconsiderate enough in the first place to impose their noise racket upon others are never going to be reasonable when confronted, in fact, being nice and polite only emboldens them, you have two choices, go the route of officialdom and be prepared to wait or take them head on in a firm manner

Your usually dealing people who have an equal balance of arrogance and boorishness so being polite is a complete waste of time

agree in theory but some simply go on the defensive. same result :rolleyes:

Muahahaha

Mad_maxx wrote: »

The kind of people who are inconsiderate enough in the first place to impose their noise racket upon others are never going to be reasonable when confronted, in fact, being nice and polite only emboldens them, you have two choices, go the route of officialdom and be prepared to wait or take them head on in a firm manner

I wouldnt agree. Yeah some people can be d1cks but it can equally be the case that they just dont realise the noise they are making, some people just are not self aware but it doesnt mean they are inconsiderate.

I had a similar problem as the OP years back and when I told the neighbours about it they were both embarrassed and full of apology. They never made any noise after that and the problem was quickly solved when they realised their noise was carrying through the walls.

Noise problems in Irish apartments are all down to shoddy builds. Some people just dont realise how much noise can carry in them. But most people are reasonable and if they know they are causing hassle they will change their behaviour. There is no harm in trying before having to take the nuclear option of getting Mgmt Cos and landlords involved.

Conrad83

Just to update you.

There has been more parties and literally roaring at all hours of the day and night on the balcony this week. I don't think these are the type of people that don't realise the noise they are making. It's not even the noise from inside the apartment anymore it's the balcony and the shouting, moving furniture banging doors etc. I don't see how someone that behaves this way (mid week) can be reasonable and apologetic when confronted. They literally don't seem to sleep at all! And neither do we at present, regardless of the earplugs we are now wearing.

I had enough yesterday and after more disturbed sleep I sent an email to the mgmt co. I gave a few examples and times of what has been going on. They were extremely apologetic and said they will be contacting the owner and tenants asap and will keep us updated. I think I will follow up with them in a week if I haven't heard back. Really hoping things quieten down. As one poster said if they are like this on the balcony in winter god knows what it will be like in summer.

Wabbit Ears

I remember a thread on boards ages back where there was a outdoor bootcamp session in a park opposite their house and the person was afraid to confront the instructor because they were very aggressive and shouty.

Boot camp instructor saw the thread on boards and was mortified and unreservedly apologetic. she simply hadn't realized her voice was carrying so much. she was also upset that someone though she was unapproachable.

Short of it is people are rarely sociopaths so first step should ALWAYS be bring it up with them directly. if that fails take other avenues but if you haven't said it to them and given them an opportunity to stop or change what they're doing then you pretty much have no leg to stand on when making a complaint about them.

road_high

All sounds familiar with the Apartment lottery. I remember I did complain to the management about the yoke next door and things might improve for a while then kick off sporadically- to put it in context she was defo on drugs, had worked as a prostitute and drink was a constant theme obviously. Also had a little kid who the social services had been on about.
With that kind of messed up living I think there’s little enough they could do (I know eviction was threatened but these types are well up on their so called “rights”).
In the end I gave up caring as I was moving out anyhow and buying a house. Would be very reluctant to buy an apartment again unless it was in an exclusive mature building. As I say after it’s a lottery as to what riff raff are around you.

Conrad83

Just to add, our apartment is in an exclusive mature building in a very well respected area in Dublin. The apartments seem to be largely owner occupied by young couples and young families etc. When we moved in our landlord advised us to mgmt were very strict and basically do not take any ****. This is why I went straight to them and am hopeful and confident something will be done. I get the points about people not realising the noise they make and I lived with a girl once who would always bang doors and have the tv on loudly. She was apologetic when I spoke to her about it.

This is a whole different ball game. There is a little bit of noise and then there's shouting and roaring at all hours of day and night. I am confident after this week that we will not be the only ones complaining!!

D.Q

Conrad83 wrote: »

Just to add, our apartment is in an exclusive mature building in a very well respected area in Dublin. The apartments seem to be largely owner occupied by young couples and young families etc. When we moved in our landlord advised us to mgmt were very strict and basically do not take any ****. This is why I went straight to them and am hopeful and confident something will be done. I get the points about people not realising the noise they make and I lived with a girl once who would always bang doors and have the tv on loudly. She was apologetic when I spoke to her about it.

This is a whole different ball game. There is a little bit of noise and then there's shouting and roaring at all hours of day and night. I am confident after this week that we will not be the only ones complaining!!

Are they Spanish by any chance? Had a similar issue in my apartment, also exclusive, mature well respected area etc

road_high

Conrad83 wrote: »

Just to add, our apartment is in an exclusive mature building in a very well respected area in Dublin. The apartments seem to be largely owner occupied by young couples and young families etc. When we moved in our landlord advised us to mgmt were very strict and basically do not take any ****. This is why I went straight to them and am hopeful and confident something will be done. I get the points about people not realising the noise they make and I lived with a girl once who would always bang doors and have the tv on loudly. She was apologetic when I spoke to her about it.

This is a whole different ball game. There is a little bit of noise and then there's shouting and roaring at all hours of day and night. I am confident after this week that we will not be the only ones complaining!!

Are they rent-allowance tenants by any chance? Doesn’t sound like they’re working

Conrad83

road_high wrote: »

Are they rent-allowance tenants by any chance? Doesn’t sound like they’re working

I have no idea! I'm not sure if they are Spanish, all I know is they're not Irish and there seems to be a good few people up there. Definitley don't appear to work anyway. They were out on the balcony the other night at 4.30am and again at 7am. They seem to be out there for ages too, not just for a smoke for example. Whatever is so exciting about their balcony that they spend so much time on it!

road_high

Conrad83 wrote: »

I have no idea! I'm not sure if they are Spanish, all I know is they're not Irish and there seems to be a good few people up there. Definitley don't appear to work anyway. They were out on the balcony the other night at 4.30am and again at 7am. They seem to be out there for ages too, not just for a smoke for example. Whatever is so exciting about their balcony that they spend so much time on it!

Cultural enrichment for you, it’s wonderful. The psycho i was stuck beside was Eastern European and non working (well, not in the traditional sense).

Sundew

We had neighbours from hell in our own bought apartment. ( they were Irish and loved nothing more then a bit of knacker fighting/ door banging/ plate smashing in the middle of the night!) We put up with it for quite a while....we were on speaking terms, would say hello to each other in the hall etc. knocked on the door, put on my best smiley face and in a diplomatic manner asked them to be mindful of sleeping residents at night. They were terribly apologetic.....however the following day my OH was blanked, noise escalated, it got pretty bad where other neighbours called the police ( neighbours told us) but we were blamed for it! Then after a pretty horrific incident and Gardai arriving at 7 in the morning, we wrote a very stiff letter to management company documenting everything that had happened, and saying that we would escalate this unless they sorted them out and we would also withhold our management fees. It worked! You will just have to play hardball but in your case as renters the landlord should definitely be doing this on your behalf, but document the noise.
I’m in a detached house now and couldn’t go back to apartment living for this reason only!

Graham

road_high wrote: »

Cultural enrichment for you, it’s wonderful.

Mod

Any more posts along those lines and A & P will be 'culturally enriched' by your absence.

Shop40

Keep updating us OP! I hope they get their comeuppance soon. Sound like an awful lot.

Wabbit Ears

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

I remember a thread on boards ages back where there was a outdoor bootcamp session in a park opposite their house and the person was afraid to confront the instructor because they were very aggressive and shouty.

Boot camp instructor saw the thread on boards and was mortified and unreservedly apologetic. she simply hadn't realized her voice was carrying so much. she was also upset that someone though she was unapproachable.

Short of it is people are rarely sociopaths so first step should ALWAYS be bring it up with them directly. if that fails take other avenues but if you haven't said it to them and given them an opportunity to stop or change what they're doing then you pretty much have no leg to stand on when making a complaint about them.

Mmmm I hear what you’re saying but you’d want to have lived in isolation on Craggy Island, or else be very young and unaware not to realise that shouting, roaring and banging around an apartment at 4am (midweek when people are working) is going to be disruptive !!

There’s a difference between an outdoor boot camp at 7am or 7pm to people living over your head creating unacceptable noise levels all night long !

Cash_Q

OP I wouldn't wait a week to hear back off MgmtCo, if there's noise like this again tonight, email them again. Every day if you have to. Why prolong the misery. I really hope it gets sorted for you soon, nothing worse than persistently noisy neighbours.

Graces7

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

I remember a thread on boards ages back where there was a outdoor bootcamp session in a park opposite their house and the person was afraid to confront the instructor because they were very aggressive and shouty.

Boot camp instructor saw the thread on boards and was mortified and unreservedly apologetic. she simply hadn't realized her voice was carrying so much. she was also upset that someone though she was unapproachable.

Short of it is people are rarely sociopaths so first step should ALWAYS be bring it up with them directly. if that fails take other avenues but if you haven't said it to them and given them an opportunity to stop or change what they're doing then you pretty much have no leg to stand on when making a complaint about them.

I hear you but this is a very different situation from a domestic setting,

In my experiences with eg barking dogs all night the response has depended on if I already knew the owners. One old couple started leaving their dog chained up where it could see badgers and rabbits etc,,Barking all night

We knew the couple well so I went round and asked if they were Ok as we were worried. They were mortified. Both were deaf and the windows were triple glazed,, and it was fixed

Someone else who we had not met got angry, confrontational and we finally had to threaten court ....in which case yes they will ask have you tried direct appeal. which need not be in person but can be in a letter..

Conrad83

Just to update on the weekends events.

Friday - quite noisy again on the balcony with the usual very loud talking on balcony. There has barely been a peep since Friday night. I thought they were away but did hear movement yesterday so I wonder it the mgmt company have got onto them already. Hopefully!

Shop40

Great news OP! Fingers crossed!

DubInTheWest

Noisy scum make your like a misery. I hate to say it but sometimes the only option is to move. And once you endure this, it's like it can follow you. I say this from experience. We were renting going way back, rented a few houses and no issues. Then after about 4 years we got a single mother and 2 kids in, no problem you'd think. It was crazy, kids running up and down the house at all hours of the night, not going to school the next day, music on, roaring and shouting. I approached her and nothing. There were nights I wanted to knock the cnut out believe me. We decided to move. The estate seemed nice enough. And after awhile we got eastern Europeans in like one of the posters above. They were animals, no consideration for anyone. They had wild parties on Xmas eve when Irish children go to bed, total lack of respect. And drinking and the moving of furniture at all hours of the night. I wonder what that's about, the moving of furniture at all hours, like why do it ? So that was 2 noisy scum we got in a row. These days we live in a detached house and the peace is bliss. I hope you get it sorted but it will wreck your health while you have to endure it.

Joziburg

Anymore noise?

Conrad83

The noise has definitley reduced a lot. There was a party on Monday night which was exceptionally loud and there is still noise on the balcony but not as bad. I assume the mgmt company wrote to them but they never came back to me to update me either way.

Cash_Q

Conrad83 wrote:

The noise has definitley reduced a lot. There was a party on Monday night which was exceptionally loud and there is still noise on the balcony but not as bad. I assume the mgmt company wrote to them but they never came back to me to update me either way.

I would make a complaint each and every time if I were you. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

Graces7

Cash_Q wrote: »

I would make a complaint each and every time if I were you. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

absolutely do. Keep a record and send a copy regularly to the management or they will think all is OK and it will revert to very bad

BexieB

I had / have quite noisy neighbours. Students who speak a full volume and music in the early hours of the morning. Spoke to landlady and a least the music stopped but voices continued. Was looking in sound insulation which was running into thousands, but I was seriously considering it. Anyway, my friend suggested using white noise. I was skeptical but tried it out. I was amazed. It completely drowned out their jabber. I had the volume very high to drown them out and thought I’ll never be able to sleep with this. But I nodded off quicker than usual. My sleep quality is so much better now and I use it even when they’re not there. There’s loads of white noise Apps, YouTube vids or even actual machines. Highly recommended, definitely worth a go for anyone whose sleep is being affected by noisy neighbours.

ted1

Conrad83 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I don't even know the number of their apartment to call up to them. We are ground floor and they are above us. The alternative I guess is to pop out to our balcony when they are out there and ask them to keep it down (politely).

It is so frustrating and I don't see how they couldn't realise how loud they are being. They were out sweeping their balcony at 9am last Sunday morning ffs. We said we would give them the benefit of the doubt for the first couple of weeks with it being Christmas etc and we thought the loud banging could be putting new furniture together with moving in. They are constantly out on their balcony at all hours of the day and night I don't know if they ever sleep!!

We are fed up now though and would like it nipped in the bud whatever way that may be.

What’s wrong with sweeping at 9am?

BexieB

ted1 wrote: »

What’s wrong with sweeping at 9am?

I agree ted1. But the trouble with noisy neighbours is they can make you hypersensitive to noise at anytime of day. This happened to me. When they moved in first it was loud voices/ music past midnight. After talking to landlady the music stopped, but the odd time it would be on at 10pm. This did annoy me but I also realised that this was my issue. There are no ‘quiet hours’ regulations for domestic noise in Ireland, so I use the regulation on sounding a horn as reasonable measure of when residents should expect relative quiet. These hours are 1100 pm to 7 am. I only report to landlady if noise is excessive during these times.

Black_Knight

ted1 wrote: »

What’s wrong with sweeping at 9am?

Have a read. The OP isn't too concerned about the sweeping anymore. The shouting and parties all night are more his/her concern.

Teyla Emmagan

I would complain and complain and complain until their landlord has a pain in their head and gets rid of them before the 6 month mark (when they can be got rid of). You could have them forever otherwise.

ScallionAyter

Conrad83 wrote: »

I have no idea! I'm not sure if they are Spanish, all I know is they're not Irish and there seems to be a good few people up there. Definitley don't appear to work anyway. They were out on the balcony the other night at 4.30am and again at 7am. They seem to be out there for ages too, not just for a smoke for example. Whatever is so exciting about their balcony that they spend so much time on it!

Might be an AirBnB rental?