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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

I just wondered if anyone has any advice for tackling students who splurge out of their house across the road from me, at any time between 1.30-4.30am, and shout drunkenly amongst each other for about 1/2hour-1hour-1.5hours... It's happening about 2-4times a week so I'm beginning to feel pretty tired and a bit like if I confront them I'm not going to be very constructive about it because tiredness doesn't lead to polite diplomacy very often.

My direct neighbour, plus a few others have mentioned that they're now effected by the noise too. 

Before I take any action I wondered if anyone had experience of dealing with night-time-noise in an adult constructive lets-be-friends-about-this sort of way?

Hugh, I wondered if you'd heard them at all too...?

Any advice would be brilliant. 

Thanks.

Tags for Forum Posts: noise

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Hi Clare,

it sounds very familiar... I offered some advice in this discussion.

That would apply to you as well. Also, find out who owns the house. You may have to pay a few quid for a land registry search, but it's not much and it's worth it. Write to them, get all the other neighbours to sign too, and then follow up with a phone call. The Council's ASBO team might be able to help. I would not recommend challenging drunks (students or not!) in the middle of the night when you're likely to completely lose it with them, and they'll most likely just laugh at you. Have a look at the other discussion, see what you can do. A letter might get them evicted, or told that they might be unless they shape up, so that might be all that's needed.

Good luck!

Clare, I sympathise. I have similar problems and with more than one house around here and I haven't decided which one I should deal with first!

If you know precisely which house it is then Anette's advice sounds very reasonable. I have never tried to challenge them myself - I think it's a bad idea generally.

I have shouted at people to shut up in the past (not here, in Stoke Newington, but knew the people living in that flat, so I knew their friends were unlikely to beat me up...and then I raised it politely with my neighbours the next day who were very apologetic. But again, this strategy may not be the best way forward if you don't know the people involved.)

I have spoken to noisy young neighbours over the years and found it not only stops the noise, but helps with neighbourly relations.   I took my chance when I saw them in the street in the daytime, they have always been extremely shamefaced and apologetic, generally claiming not to realise.  So I ask them for their mobile number to helpfully let them know when the noise is too much and text them when it happens.  I even told off one lot for letting their friends whistle at me in the street - ooh they were so embarrassed, it was hilarious

I'd like to reiterate the advice above. I work in a students' union so I know a lot about working with students. Although there are always exceptions, the majority are decent people, but they can be naive and inconsiderate as to other people's lifestyles - but it's usually unintentional and a friendly reminder will usually do the trick. Most likely they will have had no idea they were causing a nuisance. Jumping straight to more formal channels could also antagonise rather than encourage them to be better behaved.

If that doesn't work then by all means speak to the police/council etc. If you can find out which university they attend you could also consider complaining to the institution - they are very hot on issues that might bring them into disrepute. The students' union may also run a 'good citizen' campaign which might be of help.

thanks! 

I'll try a polite letter...!

*raises hand shamefacedly*

I have been a noisy inconsiderate student in my past and have been terribly embarrassed and changed my ways when politely asked to be quiet by neighbours.

Not only have I been that person, but I get very annoyed if my sleep's disturbed by noisy neighbours, so I sympathise!

Just approach them during the day, knock on the door and mention that they're being a bit too loud at times. The advice above about getting some contact details so you can remind them when they do it again is a good one too.

They'll probably just be really embarrassed and quite responsive in future. If not, report it further...

I guess ultimately whether you use formal or informal means depends on what type of people you think they are. "Students" is a bit of a generic definition. And of course judging people by their appearance without knowing them is not easy. I guess we all have to exercise our own judgement.

of course i use the label 'students' because I guess I don't know of any other group of people that can be up all night and completely disappear all day!! - apologies to students who read this discussion and don't shout the houses down between the hours 1-4am!

Tis dreadful to generalise in this way...

 

I would approach them during the day, if I ever saw them...

thanks for your comments though - its really appreciated!

 

You know where they live. Go knock on the door.
Harringey Noise team on speed dial and failing that call the police. In my experience asking politely ends in abuse.

In our experience, calling the Councilºs Noise Team has been the most effective way of putting an end to the noise, at least on the day.

 

Daytime:  0845 055 0921

Night Time:  020 8348 3148

 

Personal intervention has proved ineffective, because even a friendly chat has rarely had any long-term effect.

Also, getting the Noise Team to witness the disturbance and intervene de-personalises the issue and makes for a more objective assessment of the noise.

 

On a first visit, the Team will send the occupants a letter with a warning, and the next time round can and often will serve an abatement order, which means that the next disturbance after that could be treated as a criminal offence.

Our most recent such experience was last Saturday, when we were disturbed by a party in a garden backing onto ours, with music blaring out of the house.  The Noise Team went round, and a few days later we had a letter from them informing us that they'd written to the offenders, warning them that the next such incident could lead to an abatement order.  So they're taking it pretty seriously.

Of course, during a warm summer night, it can take a while for the Noise Team to get round to dealing with your case.  But if you can face the wait, it can be worth it.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

I have a student household next door to me, and in my experience, these youngsters are not bad poeple, they are just inconsiderate and unaware of how much noise they make once they've had a couple.......  My advice would be to drop them a non-provocative note the day after it next happens saying that "When you arrived home last night at 3.00am you woke me up, and kep me awake talking until ....am.  As I have to go to work in the mornings/have small children/whatever else you can think of - could I ask you please to be more considerate in the future.  If you want to discuss this, feel free to call me on ..........  Thanking you in advance for your kind co-operation, Regards, your neighbour at No.  "

Having offered my number to my neighbours, I then later asked them for theirs, so that I could give them a call if they were disturbing me late at night.  This works really well, as it saves me having to yell/scream out of windows, and avoids having to get dressed to knock on the door.  Most youngsters will be apologetic; but they have appalling short-term memories so may fall back into bad habits very quickly if not "reminded" once in a while.

 

 

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