Neighbour is making my life miserable

boogieman

octatonic said:

I had a problem with a Jamaican neighbour who I eventually got on fine with.

He was very loud and seemed to want to be the alpha male all the time, used to catcall women in the street and be a bit of a dick.
I got sick of it when he tried to get my builder to do a job for him when the builder was working for me so I called him on it.
I got the full show- squaring up to me, making death threats, telling me he'd kill my entire family (well, they are in Australia so good luck with that) and all sort of craziness.

When I put a note through the door that said 'Why don't we start again? Neither of us is going anywhere and I'd prefer to get on with my neighbours and not be at war with them'.
We had a chat, the argument was finished and he ended up being a really nice guy, would knock on my door to let me know when a closer parking spot opened up on the busy street we lived on.
Once he saw I was ill and brought me a rum and lemon drink, which I thought was very kind.

I never fully trusted him after his outburst but I had a vested interest in keeping things calm and they were.
I still see him when we are in the old neighbourhood and he is very warm and friendly.
I don't know if it is a cultural difference, or maybe it just his personality, I don't know really.

You're a braver man than me. I would have called the police at the death threat point. 

octatonic

boogieman said:

octatonic said:

I had a problem with a Jamaican neighbour who I eventually got on fine with.

He was very loud and seemed to want to be the alpha male all the time, used to catcall women in the street and be a bit of a dick.
I got sick of it when he tried to get my builder to do a job for him when the builder was working for me so I called him on it.
I got the full show- squaring up to me, making death threats, telling me he'd kill my entire family (well, they are in Australia so good luck with that) and all sort of craziness.

When I put a note through the door that said 'Why don't we start again? Neither of us is going anywhere and I'd prefer to get on with my neighbours and not be at war with them'.
We had a chat, the argument was finished and he ended up being a really nice guy, would knock on my door to let me know when a closer parking spot opened up on the busy street we lived on.
Once he saw I was ill and brought me a rum and lemon drink, which I thought was very kind.

I never fully trusted him after his outburst but I had a vested interest in keeping things calm and they were.
I still see him when we are in the old neighbourhood and he is very warm and friendly.
I don't know if it is a cultural difference, or maybe it just his personality, I don't know really.

You're a braver man than me. I would have called the police at the death threat point. 

I didn't think he was serious- I have family members who say this sort of thing all the time so I am used to bluster.

People who mean this stuff don't usually announce it beforehand.

Strangefan

William Williamson said:

Thank you!!

The council housing team? I believe this is a social housing association (Hyde, London and Quadrant, etc.) rather than the council housing directly - so thus far haven't engaged them, do I need to call them too? The reason I ask is that the council no longer runs an out-of-hours noise disturbance investigation group, which is why I've got to note things down. If I need to call someone to flag it in their system too, I haven't been told so far?






If it's housing association that's easier as they should have a dedicated asb team,  I use to work for sanctuary and we were shit hot with asb, keep hassling them 

johnswiss

In the meantime could you sleep in another room? Use a sofabed in the lounge or something. I know it's not ideal but peace when you want it can be worth it. I've done it! Good luck anyways

BenSirAmos

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-noise-app/id926445612?mt=8

webrthomson

While I’m all for live and let live, some neighbours are frankly arseholes!

If the loud behaviour continues report every instance of it that happens between 11PM and 7AM to the police and insist that they appear and caution your neighbour. If this behaviour is consistent after a few warnings find out from your local council who the anti-social behaviour team are, point them towards the police instances for evidence. From there you can ask them to talk to the neighbours about it and if they are ignored and the police keep getting called they will ASBO them for you.

Be aware that your neighbours are likely to be grade A cunts thought out the entire process – I had to do this with some rented tennets in my block that were selling heroin and boy was that fun – it does work in the end but you need to have some staying power!

Best of luck dude!

sev112

You may have an influential MP, they can be extremely persuasive to the local council to address issues.

send them a letter; most MPs have online comms.  Give them a try

d8m

What's the biggest amp you can get your hands on?...

guitarcookie1

Bass amp right up against the wall, looper set on repeat. 

Alternatate this with some high pitched guitar, just slighly out of tune...

Or Justin Beiber, at full volume...

Emp_Fab

Move.  I know it goes against the grain but the amount of temporary hassle you'll have from moving will be something you'd give your right arm for, a year from now after you've suffered 12 months of hell.

BloodEagle

I used to have some absolute wanker neighbours when I lived in a flat (they were upstairs but that still counts I think) - lots of music and stomping around at all hours - I took to sleeping with earplugs in and a pillow on top of my head like a complete lunatic. Eventually I just moved and sold the place...to a woman with severe hearing difficulties, so I suppose that worked out OK for everyone - didn't make me not want to brutally murder them every day tho. If its making you miserable and you rent  you should think about moving I would say - youre never going to get on with these people by the sound of it so just leave them behind to fuck their own lives up

littlegreenman

BloodEagle said:

I used to have some absolute wanker neighbours when I lived in a flat (they were upstairs but that still counts I think) - lots of music and stomping around at all hours - I took to sleeping with earplugs in and a pillow on top of my head like a complete lunatic. Eventually I just moved and sold the place...to a woman with severe hearing difficulties, so I suppose that worked out OK for everyone - didn't make me not want to brutally murder them every day tho. If its making you miserable and you rent  you should think about moving I would say - youre never going to get on with these people by the sound of it so just leave them behind to fuck their own lives up

Problem is if you move next door to even bigger twats?

speshul91

60hz frequency test on repeat extremely loud 

starwarsnosebleed

Jamaican a mountain out of a molehill.

capo4th

These Jamaicans always smoking herb listening to reggae and shouting into their phones till all hours.....

Jimbro66

William Williamson said:

The council housing team? I believe this is a social housing association (Hyde, London and Quadrant, etc.) rather than the council housing directly - so thus far haven't engaged them, do I need to call them too?

You are in a better position if it is a housing association as they are more likely in my experience to take action so, yes, you should contact them directly and ASAP.

I had similar about ten years ago: a guy coming home drunk most nights and leaving music on all through the night and even a full band playing in his attached garage from 2.00am on several occasions. Got the usual 'keep a diary' from the local council dept but I went straight to the Association who were genuinely horrified. Two weeks later he was gone.

Edit: Outgunning the neighbours? - no. A mate of mine had trouble from noisy upstairs neighbours in a row of large terraced houses with ground and first floor flats. One day he went to work leaving his Hi-Fi playing continuously through his Fender Twin to get revenge. He managed to upset everyone in the street and was given his notice to quit

olafgarten

The Joys of living in a detached house with nice people on one side and retirement flats on the other. The only things I have to worry about are my family members and they are reasonable people. 

DrJazzTap

To the OP you have to understand, you haven't done anything wrong. We all need to get on in life, that's what it's all about. Unless the property next to you is a  nightclub, then loud music all the time is unacceptable.

 Every time we would have a hoouse party or a barbeque we'd let the neighbours know beforehand (invite them over etc) and quieten down by around half nine/ten. And that was once or twice a year if that.

Have a chat with some other neighbours and see what they think, if they have similar grievances then ask them to record the incidents as well. Strength in numbers, ask them to contact the same person you've been dealing with.

Certainly don't fight fire with fire, as it could get ugly and make things ten times worse. If you feel things aren't moving in the right direction and you have the financial means to, I would think about moving.

jonnyburgo

olafgarten said:

The Joys of living in a detached house with nice people on one side and retirement flats on the other. The only things I have to worry about are my family members and they are reasonable people. 

Useful contribution. OP go and buy a detached house today.

Chalky

jonnyburgo said:

olafgarten said:

The Joys of living in a detached house with nice people on one side and retirement flats on the other. The only things I have to worry about are my family members and they are reasonable people. 

Useful contribution. OP go and buy a detached house today.

Sorry @jonnyburgo, forgot you were the editor/thread policeman. Perhaps you can advise us what areas of this topic we can or can't stray into? Or perhaps we should send our thread contributions to you first for censorship or rejection?