How to report noise complaint?
Posted by Scouse_Gecko@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 30 comments
Wondering on procedure, neighbours are regularly having parties and blasting music, to the point we cannot sleep with windows open when it’s boiling, and can hear everything with windows closed still. We have been around and they were getting slightly confrontational and then turned it down (tonight) but again it is BLASTING and no doubt not just affecting us but everyone else around us. What is the right procedure here? Police non emergency?
J_Thompson82@reddit
Police won’t help unless the party is spilling out into the street (public). Private residence? Forget it. Unless there’s other offences like fighting, domestic abuse, drugs etc.
You’ll need to get in contact with your local council. They’ll have an environmental department that deals with nuisance noise. Nuisance noose doesn’t have to be between any certain times either. It’s any noise that prevents you from enjoying your house. So it’s not just after 10pm or before 7am etc.
I’m sorry to say, having lived next door to a party house for a long time, it’s going to involve years of noise diaries, recording equipment, out of hours visits by on-call council officers to witness the noise etc.
It’ll involve mediation, then noise abatement notices being served in the offending parties. Then they’ll breach those noise abatement notices because they don’t give a shit anyway, and they’ll be taken to court and found guilty of being in breach of their noise abatement notice and they’ll be fined. But the fine is means tested. So, for example, my neighbours were unemployed and on benefits. So their fine was only £42.
Then the social housing company they rented from was sold and bought out by another company with no handover given and no records kept. So when the noise continued I was right back to square 1.
With stuff like this there’s strength in numbers. One voice speaking out against it isn’t going to be heard. But if multiple households complain continuously…I dunno, something might be done about it.
I wish you all the best. I hope you have a better experience than I did. For my wife and I our lives were utter misery for years and none of the proper channels seemed to be able to make any meaningful change at all. The noise only stopped for us when the occupants died. (For the sake of clarity she had cancer, I didn’t kill her…I promise.)
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you for taking the time to write a response. It’s very upsetting how it’s not taken seriously enough. It’s really taking a toll on my mental health here. Our house is lovely and in a lovely location but these particular people seem dedicated to partying as loud as they can with no consideration for anyone else around them as ‘they have been here longer’. I have strong suspicions they have already been reported so that will probably be the next stage for us. If it continues how it is at this minute though I think we will give non emergency a call for what it’s worth.
J_Thompson82@reddit
You can try calling non-emergency. But as ex-police, I’ll tell you now, unless there are other offences disclosed, they won’t be interested and will refer you to the local council. They literally have no powers whatsoever to deal with loud music/noise in a private residence. You’d never get the police to attend, and if for some reason they did, when they ask the occupants to keep it down, if they said “no, now get off my property” the officers have no powers to do anything more. So they don’t attend in the first place.
Best bet is to go round and speak to your other neighbours. See if it is annoying them also. If you all call the council at the same time to complain then they generally take it more seriously.
I never had any allies at my previous place. It was a mid-terrace property and the people on the other side weren’t on board with me because they were always at the parties too.
jimbo8e6@reddit
We had the police out for a neighbour down the road playing really loud music and being overly loud. They came, told them to pack it in, and they turned the music down. Not had an issue since. It will be location specific, depending on the local force, so worth trying.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you for taking the time to reply. We took some recordings last night so we do have some evidence now. We have been beyond tolerant up to now but last night was the final straw. Just a question regarding speaking with the neighbours though- they did become aggressive and confrontational, would this bare any weight if we were to go to the police when it happens again, as clearly they don’t care or listen to anyone around them.
J_Thompson82@reddit
It would depend on what they did exactly. “Being confrontational” in and of itself isn’t an offence. And even shouting and swearing at you is not a clear cut case of breach of section 5 of the public order act, as I assume you’d be on his property at his door.
Threats of violence towards the person, well that could be taken a bit more seriously. Again it would depend a lot on what exactly was said. And if you’re back home after the fact and reporting it to the police from the safety of your own home and he’s back in his house continuing to party then they might not even attend that night, or at all.
Sure, if he straight up assaults you then they’re more likely to come out and arrest him.
Bottom line, it’s all good evidence, so if any of this does occur then always report illegal activity to the police. But unfortunately it’s not a route to have the police attend immediately and deal with the noise.
tittyelevator@reddit
Download "The Noise App", its a council run app to report noise complaints. You can also speak with them through the app, so you can tell them you've spoken to them regarding the noise and they're confrontational. Doesn't matter if the noise is 10am or 10pm, if they believe it's too loud they will intervene.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Ah that’s so useful, thank you so much!
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Your local council is likely to be incredibly slow and ineffective at dealing with this. Do they rent from a landlord? If so, it's worth finding out who that is and letting them know the situation. This has worked wonders for me before. Landlords don't like their tastes causing issues with neighbours foe a whole host of reasons and it's a good way to get kicked out of a property.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
I belive they own the house- I have had success in a previous house I rented where I found the landlord of our neighbours and reported them for nuisance which did work so it’s a bit more difficult here as we all own our houses.
Rik_Whitaker@reddit
I had a similar problem quite a few years ago so I contacted my local council. They put me in contact with the 'noise abatement team' who came out to see us. We told them what was going on and they came back when the noise issue was actually happening to witness it. They said they would call and speak to the offending neighbours about their behaviour and if it didn't stop they would rake further action. They told us to keep a record every time the neighbours had a party, what time it started and finished to build a case against them. I also think they might of used some kind of recording device to record the decibels.
Mysterious_Beach_673@reddit
Depending on your area some Council’s have Environmental Protection Teams that operate late at night for this reason. Check your local Council website out
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you I don’t think we have one here I’ve just had a look!
eelam_garek@reddit
Been through this and I would start playing my own music loud on the wall I knew they slept in at around 7am when I knew they'd have finally gone to sleep. I'd just leave it on for about 3 or 4 hours while I went out and did my morning jobs. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this method but it did get me results once they had a taste of not being able to sleep and knew that I'd continue to fight fire with fire.
h_424@reddit
Last time I reported a noise complaint was when a pub near me was blasting music in a pub near me. To the point that we felt like they were throwing a party in our own bedrooms. Eventually they stopped I believe someone became very confrontational with the pub owner haven't heard it since.
But you can report this via your local council website they will ask for your name and address. Or you can report it as antisocial behaviour but I have only gone via the council method.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
I suppose what I’m interested in is if anything can be done to stop it imminently? We all have very tiring jobs and it’s stopping us from sleeping and having the windows open.
h_424@reddit
I would try with the council. And wait 1 or 2 days just incase if you do report it as antisocial behaviour you can't be turned away saying oh you didn't contact the council first. I understand how you feel I remember I finished worked late on a Sunday and people think that everyone has a day off on bank holiday and don't take into consideration key workers etc.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
We can’t be the only ones so I suppose if a few of us complain then that will bear more weight. The entitlement is unreal from certain people, especially when you’re tired you are far less tolerant!!
h_424@reddit
I agree hopefully you get this resolved quickly OP.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much
No-Oil7246@reddit
Presumably the pub wasn't there when you moved in.
h_424@reddit
It was always there and they've always been respectful and wary. I think a new owner acquired the pub or it was rented out for that night. It was very loud afrobeat type music.
mistressjoin001@reddit
I'm so sorry to hear this. You should reach out to your local council to report this behaviour, especially if the noise is happening after 10pm most nights. The reality is that police non-emergency is unlikely to help much (I tend to find that the police will do a drive through if the noise is coming from a group of people in public, but not if it's coming from a private property).
Do they rent in a block of flats? If so, you might also want to reach out to your letting agency or services provider so that it can be escalated further.
Well done for confronting them.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
They are in a house- when confronted they said they said they had been there longer than us so do one basically! It is so triggering and upsetting. We should be able to get a decent nights sleep without shouting and music playing. Very frustrating police don’t deal with it but we may have to try as it’s now past 11 with no sign of stopping.
mistressjoin001@reddit
Definitely give the police non-emergency helpline a call - if you don't ask then you don't get. I really know how you feel as I've gone through this before. Just remember that nothing lasts forever, and this will hopefully stop in due course.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you- I think their reaction has particular upset us as we would never speak to someone like that. Hopefully I can get some sleep soon :(
mistressjoin001@reddit
p.s., for the purposes of tonight, maybe put your headphones in and listen to some white noise. It helps so much and dramatically reduces outside noise. I use the app White Noise Lite and it'll play white noise for a certain period of time (you can select the time period) and then shut off, meaning your phone isn't constantly playing white noise even after you've drifted off to sleep.
Scouse_Gecko@reddit (OP)
Thank you I tried to listen to some asmr but even with noise cancelling I can still hear their music. My anxiety is at an all time high as I’ve had similar situations in a previous house which got violent and I didn’t end up sleeping the whole night out of fear. I’ll try again and hopefully I can drift off soon.
mistressjoin001@reddit
It's so horrible and sad when you kindly approach someone and ask them a simple favour and they react poorly/aggressively. It makes you lose faith in humanity because they should care more about the wellbeing of their neighbours. But, unfortunately, there are just a lot of people who believe in their absolute right to do what they want in their own home, and that includes listening to loud music without a care for anyone else. I've never understood these types of people and I wish they could all go live together, away from the rest of us who just want a good nights sleep!
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