In most homes with shared walls, you will hear sounds from your neighbours, and they will hear sounds from your home. The problem comes when the sounds from your home are loud enough to stop them sleeping or hearing their own music or TV.
To avoid your neighbours complaining about you, please be thoughtful:
- Do your washing, vacuuming and DIY during the day, ideally after 7am but before 11pm.
- Keep your voices, TV, radio and music at a reasonable level and lower volumes further after 11pm and before 7am. If you can hear it clearly outside your home, then it's too loud and you may want to use headphones instead.
- Keep your TV, radio and speakers away from walls, floors and ceilings you share with your neighbours. Consider standing them on some insulating material as this can reduce how much the sound travels.
- Wear shoes with soft soles or slippers inside your home.
- Try not to bang your doors. If a door is fitted with a closer device and this is not working properly, please contact our repairs team.
- Let your neighbours know when you're doing DIY, noisy repairs that could take a few days or if you're having a party. It is also a good idea to let them know how long this will last and how they can contact you if they have an issue.
- Don’t let animals cause lots of noise, for example, by leaving dogs to bark for a long period of time.
- Do not fit laminate flooring if you live in a flat that is not on the ground floor.
- Consider getting rugs, curtains and other soft furnishings as this will help soundproof your home. If you can’t afford to do this there may be help available.