Whether they are complaints about rowdiness by your own tenants or objections from the latter about the neighbours, dealing with problems of noise can become a major headache for landlords.
All the parties involved, of course, might well be looking to you as the landlord for a calm and timely solution to the problem. As the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) noted recently, how you handle the situation could be saving you an unwelcome tenancy dispute.
Conversation
The seemingly lost art of conversation is probably the first step towards handling any noise complaints – whether they’ve arisen because of your noisy tenants or because the latter have complained about the neighbours.
You might be surprised by the effectiveness of a quiet word in the ear of tenants or neighbours. Often, the issue might have arisen simply because one or the other was unaware that their behaviour was the source of unacceptable levels of noise.
Know the law
If you are going to play a part in managing complaints about levels of noise, it obviously helps to know where you stand in relation to the law.
Noise can come from any number of sources, of course. That includes loud music – whether or not it’s being played at a party – loud televisions, children screaming and shouting, dogs barking all the time, or a host of different domestic appliances or household tools.
If the noise emitted is loud enough to cause a “nuisance”, it is breaking the law. The various laws – including the Noise Act 1996, the Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993, and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 – define a noise nuisance as a level at which it interferes with the quality of life.
Enforcement by environmental health officers
If the level of noise – whatever the source – is determined to have become a statutory nuisance, environmental health officers of the local authority can issue an “abatement order”.
If the guilty party or parties fail to comply with that order, the local authority can issue proceedings for the matter to go to court – where fines up to £5,000 can be imposed. If the police are also called out – where an element of aggression or violence is involved, for example – an antisocial behaviour order might be issued. The police can also confiscate items such as sound systems and loudspeakers.
Who’s to blame?
If you are the landlord, you are not formally responsible for any noise nuisance caused by your tenants. Though you may not be strictly liable, you will nevertheless want to maintain good relationships both with neighbours who are complaining and any other of your tenants in the same building who are affected by unacceptable levels of noise.
Friendly neighbours will be helpful allies in all manner of issues you might have as a landlord, so it is important to keep them on your side. Tenants who are affected by noise nuisance caused by others may decide to quit your premises to live elsewhere – leaving you with the headache of finding replacements.
Eviction
If all else has failed and you have issued more than a couple of warning notices to irresponsible tenants who are continuing to cause a noise nuisance, you have the option of evicting them through a repossession order on the ground of their antisocial behaviour.
If the problem has reached these proportions, of course, you will need to be careful to follow the letter of the law with respect to the grounds for eviction and give the required period of notice to quit before you can seek a repossession order from the courts.
Early intervention
As you will see, therefore – and as is so often the case involving landlords’ issues with tenants and neighbours – early intervention is the key to successfully managing noise complaints.
Act now while understanding and friendly relations still rule the day. That way, you avoid the need for any more stressful action.
