Legal Q&A: the noise from our neighbours' floorboards is driving us mad. What can we do?

Question: I own a ground-floor maisonette and the neighbours above, who moved in six months ago, have removed their carpet and left bare floorboards. This is causing a lot of noise, and they also have a dog. I am curious as to my rights, because the joint lease stipulates that you cannot cause nuisance or affect the enjoyment of the neighbours’ property.

Answer: Presumably by “joint lease” you mean the individual leases for each of your maisonettes, which are likely to be on similar terms and contain similar covenants and restrictions.

You are aware that the leases make reference to nuisance and if granted relatively recently, it is possible that they may contain covenants stating that the floors should be covered in carpet or some other sound-insulating material which prevents noise travelling, and that if the floors are wooden, they have to be insulated to a very high standard.

Regarding the dog, check to see if the lease permits your neighbours to keep a dog in the upper maisonette.

Neighbour disputes should be avoided if at all possible as they can be acrimonious and costly. Once you know the position regarding the covenants in the leases, talk to your neighbours and perhaps invite them into your maisonette so that they can hear the noise emanating from their property.

If the issue cannot be resolved amicably, you could ask your landlord to enforce the covenants against your neighbours and/or also ask your local environmental health department to investigate whether the noise is at nuisance levels.

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a legal director in the private wealth group of Foot Anstey.