Many complaints come to managing agents about noise but unfortunately in reality there is very little that the Agent can do. They can write to the tenant concerned advising them of their responsibilities under the terms of the Lease but such a letter may have little impact because it is very unlikely that a Court will give any support to a threat of eviction for noise problems to a long leaseholder . However if the occupier is a sub-tenant on a short term let then his Landlord, if helpful, may have more persuasive influence.

Before contacting us, if we are your managing agent, we recommend that you do the following:

1. Keep records of the problem, in particular the time and date.
2. Have a quiet word with your neighbour; if possible explain the impact on your family. However if the neighbour responds aggressively you may wish to contact the police. Remember, if you report any incident to the police always obtain a crime number.
3. Read up about your rights, the following websites could be useful:

4. Take advice from a mediation service provided by the Local Authority or the local Citizens Advice.
5. Contact your local authority, "Under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993, local authorities have a duty to investigate a complaint of noise or other nuisance (including smoke, fumes, accumulations, deposits, odours etc) from premises (land and buildings) and vehicles, machinery or equipment in the street." Some have powers to take emergency action to deal with urgent noise matters. visit: Identifying the appropriate local authority to make a complaint

If after taking all the above steps you have made no progress then write to us preferably by email setting out the history of the problem that you have recorded. We will write to the Leaseholder setting out the details and advising of the terms of the lease that are breached and what if any powers the Landlord has to remedy the breach.

Finally you may consider complaining direct to the Magistrates court, but again you will need to show records of the problem and the actions you have taken to try and resolve the problem.

Links

Neighbours from Hell in Britain: http://www.nfh.org.uk/resources/Articles/noise/index.php
Identifying the local authority to make a complaint: http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=412&LGIL=0&ServiceName=Report+a+noise+nuisance
Noise Concern: http://www.noiseconcern.org
The Noise Resource Service: http://www.noiseresourceservice.org.uk/
The Legislation covering noise nuisance: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/noise/statute.htm