Is noise from a neighbouring property ruining your life?

With Christmas and New Year behind us, most people will be looking forward to a quiet January. While the chances are that the noise levels in the block or neighbourhood where you live may have been higher than normal over the past few weeks, for most this is a passing issue which ends with the festive season.

However, for some, it may be part of a more long-standing and serious problem of nuisance that needs legal advice.

“If the perpetrator of a serious disturbance fails to respond to warnings about the levels or frequency of noise coming from their property, action can be taken against them directly under the Protection from Harassment Act.”

“This can take the form of an injunction or compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. However, financial compensation will only be an effective remedy if the perpetrator has sufficient means to pay.”

It is worth bearing in mind that where a disturbance is occurring on land under the control of the landlord or owner, action can be taken if, having received notice of the problem, they fail to take adequate steps to remedy the issue within a reasonable period. This might be where visitors to a block of flats are habitually causing a disturbance on open areas that the public is able to enter, such as access paths, shared corridors, car parks.

The type of action a landlord might be expected to take in these circumstances would be to install additional security measures in the affected areas and take action against the tenant who may the source of the problem.

Legal aid is generally limited for these types of cases, but at Miles & Partners we can offer an initial, no obligation discussion on your range of legal options and other funding arrangements that might be available.

If you have a problem with nuisance from neighbours or any other housing law matter, call us on 020 7426 0400.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.