Noisy tenants

[sarahls]

Can anyone help with regards to complaints about tenants noise?

I have been receiving lots of calls from a neighbour of a flat I look after about the amount of noise, music and loud voices.

I have spoken to the tenants about it twice and the complainee has regularly confronted them too.

I will be mediating a meeting tonight between all parties to try to resolve the issue but am at a loss as to what to do next if it fails.

Can anyone please tell me the usual course of action to take in this situation?

[Trenners]

Hi Sarah,

I think you have taken the right approach in trying to resolve this.

The key question is: "Are the tenant really making unreasonable noise" or "is the neighbour being unreasonable and fussing about an acceptable amount of noise from your tenants".

Some neighbours will complain about tenants because they do not like the fact that their neighbouring property is being let (rather than owner occupied). This happened to me a few years ago (with the neighbour ringing me to complain at midnight) and I decided to sell the house in the end (because it wasn't worth all the grief from the neighbour).

Your meeting will hopefully resolve this - if not you might need to visit your property the next time the "nuisance" happens to decide for yourself. If you decide to get rid of the tenants then a Section 21 notice is probably the best course.

You might decide to start possession procedures using a Section 8 notice stating Ground 14 "that the tenant or someone living in or visiting the property has been guilty of conduct which is, or is likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours. Or that a person residing or visiting the dwelling house has been convicted of using the property, or allowing it to be used, for immoral or illegal purposes or has committed an arrestable offence in, or in the locality of, the dwelling house."

The problem with Ground 14 is that it is a discretionary ground for repossession - meaning that even if you can prove that the tenants have been noisy the judge may not award in your favour.

Good luck with the meeting.