How to Deal with Noisy Neighbours

Sick of dealing with loud weekend parties? Or barking dogs keeping you up all night long? Here’s the best way to sort out your noisy neighbours without losing your cool.

HAVE A CHAT

The simplest way to get your neighbour to quiet down is to have a chat with them, as they may not realise they’re causing you distress. Approach the conversation calmly and rationalise with your neighbour about your grievances. Avoid yelling or accusatory language that may spark a conflict. Hopefully they will understand your frustrations and you can reach a compromise about the noise levels. If not, then you may have to take further action.

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INVOLVE A THIRD PARTY MEDIATOR

It is possible to use a mediator as prevention to legal action. By visiting a mediator both parties will be able to voice their opinions and concerns in an environment that is private and confidential, however both parties will have to agree to mediation as it is a voluntary counselling service. The mediator acts as an impartial third party to a complaint and works with both parties to come to an agreeable course of action that can be pursued after the mediation.

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MAKE A COMPLAINT TO YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL

Councils have regulations about what is and is not an acceptable amount of noise; however these can vary between states and councils country wide. Have a look on your local council website to see what they deem to be unacceptable noise and judge whether you can complain to them or not.  If you have a case to make the website should give you the correct department or authority for you to then put your complaint to.

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MAKE A COMPLAINT TO LOCAL POLICE

If you are being disturbed by noise late at night and there’s no safe way of resolving the issue right away, you may be able to contact the police. Depending on the type and severity of the noise it may be possible to get police involvement for loud, unruly parties, domestic arguments and loud, unnecessary car noise. You should check your state’s police website though, as to which specific number to call to make noise complaints.

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BEGIN LEGAL ACTION

This should be the last step in any situation involving neighbours, as court hearings and lawyers are costly, proceedings are time consuming and the whole affair can cause undue stress on the relationship between everyone involved in the proceedings. If it does look like the situation will get to this point, make sure you take detailed notes beforehand about the issues and events you have gone through as evidence for your complaint.

Have you had noisy neighbours? Tell us how you dealt with it in the comments section below!