I live in the basement flat of a three-storey Victorian property in Brighton. I own the flat and have a share of the freehold. The rest of the property is a maisonette.
My neighbour bought the bulk of the property in August 2024 and he immediately ripped out the carpets on the ground floor. I think he’s ripped out the carpets everywhere else in the property as well.
The noise has become unbearable, with footsteps over bare floorboards, up and down the stairs with no carpet, people wearing shoes which sound like clogs and doors constantly slamming.
It is not just these sounds. I hear everything they are saying, personal and private things about his girlfriend who lives there too. I hear all about his business which he runs from home as well. Whether his lease permits this is another thing.
I expect day-to-day noise, but these are above and beyond day-to-day noise. I contacted the council but there is nothing they can do.
I did, however, use one of the council’s letter templates to send to my neighbour, but he just ignored it. I plan to send another letter to him which refers to Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
I’m at my wits’ end. I can’t concentrate when I am at my computer which is in the hall. I’m unable to work and am signed off sick.
I have a witness who has heard the noise and couldn’t believe it. What can I do apart from going to court?
Nightmare: A This is Money reader’s upstairs neighbour has ripped up all the carpets
Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: I do not underestimate the distress and turmoil the noise from the maisonette above you is causing.
Noise at the levels you are describing, which certainly won’t have been helped by ripping up all the carpets, can be extremely detrimental to people’s quality of life.
Getting problems like this resolved can be a protracted and frustrating process. If you haven’t done so already, keep a diary detailing all the noise incidents, including what date and time they happen and the nature and level of the noise.
You mention that you own a share of the freehold. I suspect you will also be a leaseholder, so make sure you check the contents of the lease for clauses relating to flooring changes and noise. If these exist, they could prove useful.
Do note that councils must look into complaints about noise that could be a statutory nuisance, as detailed by the Environment Protection Act 1990.
If the council determines that a statutory nuisance is happening or will happen in the future, it must serve an abatement notice.
I’ve talked to two solicitors to provide their views on your case.
It’s important to keep a noise diary, Antony O’Loughlin says
Antony O’Loughlin, head of litigation at Setfords, says: If you are both leaseholders and shared freeholders, the first step is to review the lease terms for any covenants related to flooring, noise insulation, or business use.
Many leases contain clauses requiring adequate soundproofing or carpeted flooring in upper-level flats to prevent excessive noise disturbance.
If such a clause exists and has been breached, enforcement may be possible through you as a freeholder, or via legal action.
If your lease does not include such provisions, a nuisance claim may be your next legal avenue.
Noise nuisance claims can be pursued under statutory nuisance, via local authorities and courts under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, or common law nuisance, via civil court action.
In terms of statutory nuisance, under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, individuals can apply directly to the Magistrates’ Court if they can prove the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance.
However, this requires the noise to be excessive, persistent, and unreasonable. General day-to-day noise does not usually meet this threshold.
To pursue this route, keep a detailed noise diary, gather witness statements, and record the noise as evidence, possibly with a professional noise assessment.
Before applying to court, send a formal notice to your neighbour at least three days in advance.
If successful, the court may issue an abatement order requiring remedial action, such as installing carpets, with fines for non-compliance.
Alternatively, if the noise is excessive and persistent, you may also bring a private nuisance claim in the County Court.
Unlike statutory nuisance, common law nuisance does not have a strict legal definition but requires proving that the noise is unreasonable under the circumstances.
If successful, the court could grant an injunction, requiring your neighbour to reduce noise via soundproofing or award damages, compensating for financial losses such as work disruption or alternative accommodation costs.
The case of London Borough of Southwark & Another v Mills & Others 1999 established that general household noise does not typically amount to nuisance unless it is excessive or unreasonable.
In that case, the court found that residents cannot be required to improve insulation.
However, if your neighbour deliberately worsened noise levels, by for instance, removing carpets in a Victorian property without soundproofing, your case could be stronger.
If the lease restricts noise or flooring, the freeholder or management company may enforce compliance.
At the same time, mediation offers a faster, less costly alternative to court by negotiating compromises such as using rugs or avoiding hard-soled shoes.
Before taking legal action, gather strong evidence and seek legal advice to assess the strength of your case.
Most leases include tenant covenants restricting alterations to the premises, Olivia Egdell-Page says
Olivia Egdell-Page, a partner and head of property at Joseph A. Jones & Co, says: Your home should be your sanctuary, and the fact that you cannot work or indeed enjoy your time there must be extremely difficult for you.
Without having sight of the leases for the properties within your building, I am not able to offer tailored advice, however I would say that most leases include tenant covenants restricting alterations to the premises.
Often residential leases, particularly where a property has been converted into two or more dwellings, will include a covenant that requires the floorboards in the property to be covered, perhaps excluding the bathroom and kitchen, or requiring soundproofing methods to be used.
The reason for this is that whilst the additional noise can clearly be problematic for those leaseholders who live below, the increased footsteps will not necessarily be considered a legal nuisance, as the disturbance caused by people walking across floors in the ordinary use of the flat will be considered every day use and not specific anti-social behaviour.
In the event of a breach of this covenant, it would fall to the freeholder, or landlord, to enforce the covenant, presuming that the provisions of the lease permitted them to do so.
With you and your neighbour being co-freeholders, together, you will be the landlords of the building.
From your query, it seems that the property comprises only your two dwellings and so the two of you may struggle to reach agreement as to how such issues can be managed.
The share of freehold structure has clear benefits in that the leaseholders who own the units within the building are entirely in control of the management and maintenance of the building, however in the event of dispute or disagreement, the absence of an independent, or at least a slightly detached third party, can bring added complexity.
In 2012 in the case of Faidi v Elliot Corporation, the Court of Appeal considered whether the landlord had waived their ability to enforce a covenant to lay carpets by granting the tenant a licence to alter.
By granting the licence, the Court held that the landlord had precluded themselves from being able to insist upon re-carpeting the flat, once the works were carried out.
While the two of you as the collective landlord would need to agree to grant any form of Licence for Alterations in respect of the works, you need to exercise caution before agreeing to anything of the sort, as it may prevent you from taking further action in the future.
The case did comment more generally on disputes between neighbours, and suggested mediation to be the most sensible approach in these cases.
The court recommended here that the parties should have attempted to resolve matters through mediation, and reaching a compromise.
Through mediation, the parties may have agreed to some carpet being laid, which would have allowed some alterations, whilst also reducing noise. This is a solution which I’d hope is achievable for you.