A woman who confronted her neighbours at 3am to ask them to keep the noise down was left ‘dumbfounded’ when they responded with a rude six-word excuse the next day
Your home should be your sanctuary where you can relax and unwind, but unfortunately, sometimes having noisy neighbours can ruin that peace. Neighbours who constantly throw parties late into the night or are always picking up a new DIY project can make your home life a nightmare, and it’s not always easy to get them to understand how much it impacts your mental health.
This is the problem one woman is facing after she gained the courage to confront her noisy neighbours, who stayed up partying until 3am over the weekend. In a post on Reddit, the woman said she had already been having a bad week and hadn’t had much sleep, so when she was woken up by her neighbour’s party guests “shouting” in the early hours of the morning, she decided to go outside and tell them to keep it down.
She said she also had issues with another neighbour at the same time, who had people loudly knocking on his door for several minutes as he wouldn’t answer. When she went outside, she confronted both houses at the same time.
She wrote: “I am not a confrontational person, but I went outside and very politely but firmly asked them to please stop rapping on the door and leave, as he was not answering.
“I went back in, and the party ones were still making noise. So again, I went out and very politely stated it was 3:30am, and could they please keep the noise down. I was not aggressive or cheeky. I was polite. As I walked off, they were making snippy comments about my request.”
The following day, however, she was shocked to find the neighbour who had held the party at her front door. The neighbour was furious with her for “daring” to talk to her guests, and gave her an outrageous six-word response: “Never go near my door again.”
The woman added: “The lady neighbour has taken great offence to this and came to my door on Sunday afternoon to have a go at me for daring to ask her and her guests to be a bit quieter.
“I just stood there dumbfounded as she told me never to go near her door again. I just very quietly replied, ‘Okay, next time I will just call the police then’.”
Commenters on the post encouraged her to follow through with her threat to call the police if the noise disturbance happens again, as making noise past a certain time of night is usually classed as anti-social.
One person said: “You were polite and understanding, even giving the benefit of the doubt at first. It’s totally reasonable to ask for some peace and quiet at 3am. The fact that she flipped out and came to yell at you instead says more about her than you. Don’t let her reaction make you second-guess standing up for yourself.”
Another added: “Next time just call the police.”
A third wrote: “Usually, curfew ends at 10pm so it’s best to tell them next time you will call the police for disturbance.”
What is the law on noise complaints?
The UK has specific laws that address noise complaints that take place after 11pm. The Noise Act 1996 states that “night hours” are 11pm to 7am, and councils have the authority to issue warning notices if noise exceeds permitted levels during this time.
The acceptable noise levels are:
- 34 dBA (decibels adjusted) if the background noise level is no more than 24 dBA
- 10 dBA above the background noise level if it exceeds 24 dBA.
Once a warning has been issued, if tenants fail to comply, the council has the authority to issue a fixed penalty notice, with fines ranging from £110 for dwellings and £500 for licensed premises. If the tenant still doesn’t comply, further action can be taken, including prosecution, which can lead to fines of up to £1,000 for dwellings.
If your neighbour is constantly making too much noise, Law Hive suggests documenting evidence of the noise. You should first talk to your neighbour to try to resolve the issue, but if this fails, you should then take your evidence to the local authorities.
