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Keeping Noise Down

How to keep the noise down

Everyone has different tolerance levels when it comes to noise.

Complete silence in a city is unrealistic but there are simple ways to avoid disturbing those around you.

Parties

When planning a party discuss with your neighbours If your neighbours are aware of what’s going on, they are less likely to complain. When guests are leaving remind them about others who live in your area. Remember, the later it gets, the quieter your music should be.

If there is a complaint about your party, the council’s Out of Hours Team will visit you.

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Music and TV

Make sure that the speakers are away from the wall and, if possible, raised off the floor. If you can hear your music in another room, your neighbours probably can too.

Living in a large city means that sometimes you have to live in close association with other people. This can lead to problems if your neighbours are not as considerate as you are.

If your neighbours are playing music too loud or have their television turned up, you can complain to the noise team.

If you are being disturbed by noise happening now call if you would like help on 020 8489 1284 during office hours or 020 8348 3148 evenings and weekends.

For advice about noise or if you want to report a noise that is not happening now please report a noise problem online. Do not use this link for noise happening now.

If there is still a problem we could serve those responsible for the noise with a legal notice under the Environmental Protection act 1990. This means that they could be fined up to £5,000 and have their sound equipment seized. In severe cases the police will assist and your noisy neighbours could get an Anti-Social Behaviour Order or be evicted.

Sometimes noise is a problem because of poor insulation between houses. Improving sound insulation between flats can be expensive, but worthwhile.

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Around the house

We understand the work/home balance can sometimes be difficult and it’s difficult to find enough hours in the day to fit everything in but when it comes to vacuuming the house, using the washing machine or doing DIY consider the time and make sure that it’s not too late (or too early) in the day.

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Animals

Leaving animals on their own is sometimes inevitable, but it does mean that they can get lonely and cause a nuisance to neighbours. Avoid leaving your dog on their own for too long and make sure that there are plenty of toys to keep them occupied during the day.

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Noisy Animals

Most complaints about animals relate to barking dogs.

We will only take formal action where a nuisance has been witnessed. When the noise hasn't been witnessed we may be able to send information to the owner.

Detailed information on taking your own action in response to noise nuisance can be found below.

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Alarms

If your alarm goes off when you’re away from the house, it can cause a problem to those in the area. Always make sure that a keyholder can be contacted just in case. Make sure that your alarm is maintained regularly to ensure that it doesn’t go off accidentally.

Car and house alarms

If your car alarm has been going off for more than five minutes without re-setting or keeps going off then we may take action to silence the alarm or remove the car to a pound.

An audible intruder alarm (ie not a silent alarm which automatically contacts the police), has to have been active for more than twenty minutes before we can take action.

Process

First, we have to serve a 'noise abatement notice'.

This notice sets a time for the alarm to be deactivated.

If this is not done, a specialist can be called in at your expense. We will take every care not to cause damage to your vehicle or property.

In some cases, we may have to tow the vehicle away or change the locks on the house.

We will recover our costs and in some cases, may prosecute. A successful prosecution could lead to a fine.

Once we have switched off the alarm we will make sure that the house or car is left secured. The police will be informed of any action we take so as you can be kept informed.

A towed away vehicle can be reclaimed by showing your documents to the manager of the car pound, and payment of the appropriate fee.

If the locks have been changed, the owners/occupiers can claim new keys by presenting themselves at Units 271-272, Lee Valley Technopark, Ashley Road, Tottenham, London N17 9LN, with valid identification and proof of ownership or occupation of the property.

We aim to:

always attempt to find the owner or occupier of the property
give the owner or occupier a reasonable time to deactivate the alarm
take care not to cause damage to the property or vehicle
never leave a property or vehicle unsecured after we have entered it
take the most appropriate action to minimise disturbance to residents
make every effort to inform the owner or occupier of our actions.

The London keyholder Database Service is now Live!

The new London Keyholder Database service is now live and you are able to register your keyholder information. There are a number of significant improvements to the service and you now have the ability to register additional information, such as your next of kin and your vehicle details.

Please visit the London Keyholder Database website in the external links section below or contact them on 08444 121 801

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Fire alarms

If you hear a fire alarm please call the emergency services. The fire brigade can enter, check the building and reset the alarm.

If you are being disturbed by noise happening now call 020 8489 1284 during office hours or 020 8348 3148 evenings and weekends.

If you would like to report noise from licensed premises please use our report a noise problem online form.

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Noise from pubs, bars or clubs

If you live near a pub, bar or club, there can be problems with noise late at night.

If you are being disturbed by noise happening now call 020 8489 1284 during office hours or 020 8348 3148 evenings and weekends.

If you would like help and advice about noise or you want to report a noise that is not happening now please report a noise problem online. Do not use this link for noise happening now.

There are several things that we can do to help you if licensed premises are disturbing you. In the first instance, we can serve a notice on the premises (under the Environmental Protection Act 1990).

If appropriate, we will pass on information about the premises to the council’s licensing committee. This can then be used when the premises’ license next comes up for review.

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Building work and DIY

Building sites

The Out of Hours Team are responsible for controlling the working hours of building sites and building contractors. We try to ensure that noisy building work is restricted to these hours:

Monday to Friday: 8am - 6pm
Saturday: 8am - 1pm
Not at all on Sunday

Builders that undertake noisy work outside of these hours may be liable for prosecution and a fine of up to £20,000.

DIY

Although DIY work is normally completed in the evenings and at weekends, we may intervene when DIY enthusiasts cause a problem for neighbours by working at unreasonable hours, or cause unnecessary noise.

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