Noise and neighbour nuisance

Everyday living noises such as moving furniture, doors opening and closing, people talking, children moving around etc. is not anti-social behaviour and therefore not something that officers would investigate.

Washing machines, vacuuming and DIY work is not considered to be anti-social unless it happening at unreasonable hours and persistent.

If your neighbour is disturbing the enjoyment of your home, you could try to speak to them. This is usually the best way to resolve the problem and your neighbour may not be aware they are disturbing you. If you feel uncomfortable approaching your neighbour, the noise is not everyday living noises or the noise is happening at an unreasonable hour, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report a noisy neighbour

If your neighbour’s music is disturbing the enjoyment of your home, you could try to speak to them. This is usually the quickest and simplest way to solve the problem as your neighbour may not be aware they are disturbing you. It is not unreasonable for people to have the occasional party. However, if the noise levels are excessive, it is late at night or the problem occurs frequently, and you do not feel comfortable approaching the person yourself, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report a noisy party

If your neighbour’s music is disturbing the enjoyment of your home, you could try to speak to them. This is usually the quickest and simplest way to solve the problem as your neighbour may not be aware they are disturbing you. It is not unreasonable for people to play music in their home. However, if the noise levels are excessive, it is late at night or the problem occurs frequently, and you do not feel comfortable approaching the person yourself, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report music

Vehicles: The council can silence continually or persistently sounding vehicle alarms. To help us resolve this more quickly, please provide us with details and the location of the vehicle alarm. If possible, provide the colour, model and registration number of the vehicle.
Legally, we have to take reasonable steps to trace the owner or driver of the vehicle to advise them of the situation before we can take action ourselves. For this reason, a resolution may take several hours. If the owner does not silence the alarm, attempts will be made by the investigating officer to attend the scene with a contractor and silence the alarm, or remove the vehicle to a secure area. The registered keeper of the car will be charged for this.

Buildings: The council can silence continually or persistently sounding audible intruder alarms. If we can’t get hold of key holder information for the alarm, the officer may obtain a warrant from a magistrate to enter the premises and silence or reset the alarm. The owner of the premises will be charged for this.

If you have an audible intruder alarm it is advisable to let us know the details of key holders who we can call out to silence it promptly in the event that the alarm gets set off accidentally. This will avoid the need for enforcement action to be taken and for the council to call out contractors to attend to stop the noise, the cost of which would be charged to the building owner.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report an alarm

It is natural for animals to make noise from time to time (dogs barking for example) but if it’s persistent or at unreasonable hours it can be a nuisance.

If you are being disturbed by animal noise, you should try speaking to the person who owns the animal or leave a polite note.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report a nuisance animal noise

Building sites are often a cause of significant short-term noise nuisance, some of which may be unavoidable. Whilst it is particularly difficult at the moment as a lot of people are having to work at home as well as remain indoors for the majority of the time, and are therefore more affected by this type of noise, the law recognises that construction and demolition noise is often unavoidable and temporary, and therefore not something that the Council is able to take action to prevent unless it relates to large building sites.

Building sites are permitted to carry out noisy works Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and on Saturdays, 8am to 1pm. No noisy work should take place on Sundays or bank holidays. These hours do not relate to domestic DIY works, or works that do not create a noise.

If you consider noise from a construction site to be unreasonable or unnecessary and feel comfortable, try visiting the site office and speaking to the site manager as the contractor may not be aware they are causing a problem. Be prepared to offer a compromise. If you feel uncomfortable approaching the building site and are experiencing noise at an unpermitted or unreasonable hour, you can report it to us online

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report a noisy building site or roadworks

Residents must be prepared to experience some inconvenience if they live near to a pub or club, but if this noise becomes intolerable, for example, if late-night music noise prevents you from going to sleep, you can report it.

Where complaints about noise from an existing pub or club are substantiated, officers will visit to make an assessment and to establish the cause and possible solutions to the problem. If the noise is found to be unreasonable legal action may be taken against the person responsible or the license may be reviewed if the problem continues. For more information on licensed premises, read our licensing policy overview.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report nuisance noise from licensed premises

Washing machines, hoovering and DIY work is not unreasonable unless happening late at night.

Speaking to the person making the noise and agreeing on times is usually the best way to resolve the problem. If you feel uncomfortable approaching the person about the noise and it’s happening at an unreasonable hour, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report noisy machinery and equipment

There are few controls the council have about moving traffic on the highway, trains or UK air space.

• If you are experiencing noise from any aircraft please contact the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who controls UK airspace, on 020 7453 6888
  The Aviation Environment Federation can also provide further details on noise relating to airspace which can assist you in your complaint.
  

• The metropolitan Police also operate helicopters and you can report your complaints directly to them online.

• For train and railway noise, please contact the Network Rail Helpline for advice on 0845 711414.

• For highway and moving traffic complaints, please contact The Highways Agency for advice on 08457 50 40 30.

• If your concern is around idling vehicles, our Patrol Officers can visit the location to witness this. They will ask the driver to switch off their engine. If they refuse or officers witness the driver repeatedly causing the same offence, a Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued. You can report incidents of idling to use online. 

If you are experiencing noise or nuisance from vehicles that isn’t state above or of a criminal nature, you can report it to us online. 

Please note that if you are reporting a noise or nuisance problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report a noisy vehicle

Fireworks and bonfires are only allowed in private gardens and at organised firework displays 

It is a criminal offence to use fireworks between 11pm and 7am. There are a few exceptions which are Bonfire Night when the cut off is midnight and New Year's Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am. 

People under 18 are not allowed to use or buy fireworks (except for category one fireworks). It is a criminal offence to throw, or set off, fireworks, including sparklers, in any road, thoroughfare or public space. Please report firework misuse to the police.

We work with Trading Standards, animal welfare, police, fire brigade, social housing providers, schools and youth service providers, to try make life safer and calmer for residents and businesses. If you're being disturbed by noise from fireworks, other than organised events, you can report it online. Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report noisy fireworks

If you're experiencing unnecessary noise, first you should try speaking to the person making the noise. They're probably not aware they are disturbing you. If you feel uncomfortable approaching the person, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a noise problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report miscellaneous noise

If you're experiencing other types of nuisances such as light pollution, odours, bonfires, first you should try speaking to your neighbours. They may not be aware that they are disturbing you. If you feel uncomfortable approaching them, you can report it online.

Please note that if you are reporting a neighbour nuisance problem officers will not visit if they are unable to speak to you by phone first.

Report other neighbour nuisances