[Brighton] Living in a flat

[Live by the sea]

A couple of months ago , I sold my house & moved into a flat in Hove . I moved because I got offered a good price & I felt it was sensible to bank a decent amount of money & move into a less expensive flat .

The flat is in a great central location & is quite spacious with 3 beds & 2 baths but I am already regretting my move .

Why ? Because of the noise from neighbours .

I can hear the muffled sound of TV in the early hours of the morning & doors shutting & people talking . I’m can’t make out what they are saying but I can hear the noise .

All very annoying as it is effecting my sleep .

Sone of my friends live in flats either owned or rented & I’ve been speaking to them about these issues .

Three of my friends have never had any noise issues and I’ve been trying to work out if there is any practical reason for this .

These friends all live in older blocks of flats , namely Courtney gate , 4 grand Ave and Wilbury grange . After doing some research it appears these blocks were all built around 1930 give or take and as a result they were all built with thick concrete walls & floors . This seems to have the effect of shutting out noise travelling from flat to flat .

The building I live in was built in the 1980’s had the sound insulation seems almost non existent.

I wish I had thought about this before deciding on what flat to buy !

Anyone else had similar issues .

It’s difficult to complain because no one is shouting or anything it’s just the walls must be very thin hence all the sound travelling .

I’m considering selling next year and buying a flat in a pre war block at least I’ll get better sleep .,

 

[timbha]

Surely there must be some sort of sound proofing available. Or reconfigure your flat so your lounge doesn’t share a wall with the noisey neighbours?

 

[Guinness Boy]

 

[luge]

The first flat I owned was 1930's style. It was as you describe. I had similar issues when renting in london, both in 1980's flat and also the victorian houses that were split into two.

Conversely we sold our semi detached london house and have a detached house in sussex now. At times i now don't like the road noise that carries through the air because there is loads of open space now and the roads (albeit not that near our house) are faster. That does bother me - as does the distance from the high street -but everything else about it is better.

Rarely is there a perfect. I doubt we will move from this because moving is a load of hassle, plus kids in school.

As for your problem, you may find you get used to it; I did when renting - and i have become more accustomed to the things i don't like.

if you don't, just read the market and see where you are.

 

[Icy Gull]

We have decided that we will never move to a flat. We have made this decision due to hotel stays where we can hear the room next doors residents, the sound of flushing toilets and women in high heels coming home at 2 in the morning and making a noise like a horse trotting as they walk across the room. Drives me nuts as well as waking me up at all hours. A flat could be worse if you have youngsters playing loud music and the waft of weed at all hours….if you get unlucky

Bungalow next for us.

 

[Live by the sea]

Thanks Luge . Guinness boy being his usual unhelpful self !

 

[Boroseagull]

When my dad passed away in 1973 mum very quickly sold the bungalow in Greenfield Cres and bought a flat in Preston Park Ave. That lasted only a short time with her driven mad by the sounds of feet above her and the lift being used at unearthly hours. She soon sold it and moved to a house in Bear Rd.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

We have decided that we will never move to a flat. We have made this decision due to hotel stays where we can hear the room next doors residents, the sound of flushing toilets and women in high heels coming home at 2 in the morning and making a noise like a horse trotting as they walk across the room. Drives me nuts as well as waking me up at all hours. A flat could be worse if you have youngsters playing loud music and the waft of weed at all hours….if you get unlucky

Bungalow next for us.

I have dreams like this.

 

[Live by the sea]

Might sound funny but it isn’t !

 

[herecomesaregular]

I have always had some issues with neighbour noise in a flat. My first was a converted terrace in 7 Dials, Victorian - never any noise from each side but significant noise from above. Enough to make my life a misery because the neighbour laughed about the noise he made. So I moved to a top flat of a new build (built 2007) - no neighbour noise from below but significant noise from the side. So the opposite problem to previous . Not too bad though as these neighbours are decent. If you live in a flat there will always be neighbour noise somewhat though. I found having a fan on (now use a Sound Conditioner) in the bedroom means i slept much better.

Ignore GB above, considering he's a Mod he often acts like a bellend on here. Constant neighbour noise causing sleeplessness and anxiety can be a slow drip drip torture. Yes, there other big issues in life and you are lucky to own a 3 bed flat etc etc.

 

[Eeyore]

Might sound funny but it isn’t !

I live in an early 70s build in Brighton and unless neighbours are genuinely noisy I don't hear a peep. A lot of is just down to neighbours full stop.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Avoid anything built since the 1940s in terms of flats if possible.
A friend recently worked on a flat development in West Sussex, top end price around £1m, and he said the quality of materials used was dreadful and sound proofing minimal.
A lot of the part rent part buy houses or flats seem to be hastily constructed affairs.

 

[B-right-on]

We lived in a converted flat in Denmark Villas (by Hove Stn) in a Regency(?) building 20 years ago. We had a couple about our age in the flat above and lets just say, she was a screamer.

You could hear footsteps and muffled talking etc... as well as their bedroom antics. From my limited knowledge, fiat conversions, back in the day, had very little building control regs regarding sound etc.. so it's known to be a bit of a problem.

Older purpose built flats will have a more solid construction between dwellings as you say.

A friend lives in a maisonette in fiveways and he has a flat below who were affected by the noise they make. So they split the costs of having all the GFFs ceilings ripped down, the void, which was empty, filled with sound proofing and then the ceilings plaster boarded with sound proofing plasterboard. Was a decent amount costs wise and this was 10 years ago but gave the GFF a much better standard of living. As they jointly own the freehold it was a joint cost as far as I can remember.

 

[Zeberdi]

Might sound funny but it isn’t !

I feel for you. Unless they are making an excessive and unreasonable noise, (in which case contact Environmental Services at the Council) there is not a lot you can do other than make sure you have underlay under thick carpeting, put up notices asking people not to slam doors in communal areas and wear headphones (earplugs) even when watching your own TV so your not so bothered by ambient sound.

All my adult life I lived in flats (2 owned) and ended up with severe sleep issues eventually

However - when I was younger, I’m afraid I was the one coming in late and having friends round in the early hours. I wish I knew then how much it was causing misery for my neighbours below me - I was never outrageously noisy late at night but sound carries. Many many years ago, I rented a room in a large 2nd 5 floor property in 2nd Avenue - the walls and floors were amazingly thick - you couldnt even hear our practice drumming (on a full kit) or electric guitars in the ground floor flat if you were on the 3rd, 4th or 5th floor. We were all young and all into ‘sex, drugs & rock n roll’ so it was a happy noisy house with about 8 different flats/bedsits and nobody complained.

However, years later, with many more family and work responsibilities (and in a somewhat more sober period of my life!), I bought a large Victorian mansion gfl flat in Central Hove and the noise from the basement was horrendous - you could hear everything and the guy living there played at moderate volume, electronic noise and synth house ’music’ with a constant low and unchanging double beat base going on from 7am to 11pm 7 days a week right underneath me - he even left his radio on at a loud volume if he went out (which was about once a week to the gym). In the early hours of the morning, the sounds of violent fcuking and arguing within a few feet of where I was trying to sleep. Any sound insulation was non-existent. He then deliberately would turn up his ‘music’ and gaming console (with explosive war sounds on it) to full volume and after we complained to him, he started smashing our flower pots in the communal garden areas and making physical threats - A complaint to the Council and Police resulted in an ASBO warning but thing’s got worse and eventually he was arrested. it culminated in him breaking into the flat and being threatening- It was a nightmare tbh - he was built like a shit brickhouse, covered head to toe in tats and on steroids - go figure.

Not being able to afford to buy a house in Brighton/Hove in a decent area, or even in Sussex - It was the main reason I relocated to another part of the Country - I will never ever go back to living in a flat. Noise from neighbours can be incredibly intrusive and psychologically devastating.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I have always had some issues with neighbour noise in a flat. My first was a converted terrace in 7 Dials, Victorian - never any noise from each side but significant noise from above. Enough to make my life a misery because the neighbour laughed about the noise he made. So I moved to a top flat of a new build (built 2007) - no neighbour noise from below but significant noise from the side. So the opposite problem to previous . Not too bad though as these neighbours are decent. If you live in a flat there will always be neighbour noise somewhat though. I found having a fan on (now use a Sound Conditioner) in the bedroom means i slept much better.

Ignore GB above, considering he's a Mod he often acts like a bellend on here. Constant neighbour noise causing sleeplessness and anxiety can be a slow drip drip torture. Yes, there other big issues in life and you are lucky to own a 3 bed flat etc etc.

Sorry, but there's a world of difference between vulnerable people being put into inadequate housing and having to put up with dealers, late night noise etc or kids dying of mould and the OP buying a three bed, two bath place for himself with his enormous wealth that he constantly bangs on about and not doing his research.

 

[Justice]

Never here a peep occasionally I have parking issues when a visitor decides it’s ok to park in a resident’s bay

 

[pb21]

Is this neighbours above or to the side/below? Can you hear people talking etc. or is it more them walking around in the flat above?

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Blimey, a flat was going to be our next move but will now put that off till I'm totally deaf!

 

[jackanada]

Your relatively modern purpose built flats either snuck in when there was very little regulation on sound proofing or if they do have it components have been missed and or it's been inadequately installed. While you can get significant sound reduction with a variety of systems they do need careful installation to get anywhere close to the claimed efficiency.

 

[jackanada]

Just re read original post. Yes 80s there's a good chance of absolutely f*** all having been done.
Have you identified which side is causing most trouble? Above/ below/ to the side?