Neighbours
It is usually helpful to make an informal approach to the person causing the problem that may be due to difficulties in communication or differences in lifestyle. Try to speak with your neighbour and explain the problem.
If the council gets involved by contacting your neighbour, this may make the situation worse if you have not first tried to resolve things.
Neighbour disputes can be difficult with counter allegations make further action problematic.
If the neighbour is not a council or social landlord tenant then the Priority Antisocial Team will investigate the complaint. We will listen to both parties and carry out a full investigation before deciding what action (if any) can be taken. With counter allegation, taking a case further can be difficult without independent evidence.
Noisy neighbours
First of all, try talking to your neighbour about the problem. You may find this difficult but people are often unaware they are causing a problem. Most neighbours will do what they can to reduce their noise. Here are some suggestions on how to talk to your neighbour about a problem:
- plan what you are going to say
- be polite, keep calm and try to keep things light-hearted and friendly
- to start off , you could try asking your neighbour if they can hear noise from your property
- explain how their noise is affecting you
- avoid approaching your neighbour when the noise is actually happening as you are more likely to be angry and have an argument.
If you’ve spoken to your neighbour and things haven’t improved, contact us for help. We will send your neighbour a letter to let them know about the complaint and to give them advice.
We will not tell your neighbour who made the complaint, but sometimes a neighbour will guess or may ask you.
If the noise continues, your complaint will then be investigated by the Environmental Protection Team. We will monitor the noise and decide if a noise nuisance is being caused.
If your neighbour is causing a noise nuisance, an Abatement Notice will be served requiring the noise nuisance to stop.
If the noise continues, we can enter your neighbour’s property to remove equipment such as music systems, computers and televisions. We can also prosecute your neighbour and they may have to pay a fine.
Email: communitysafety@luton.gov.uk
Telephone: 01582 510 330