Tom Said:

My girlfriend is having noise complaints at new UK student house despite having no sound systems or music!!!?

We Answered:

1. You are jumping the gun, go around to the neighbours' ask them to tell you about the noise, you want details so you can try to be as quiet as possible. Is it flushing the toilet? Moving around? Voices? Where is the Music coming from? Can they hear the playstation or tv?

2. Try to keep it friendly, is there a way of reaching an agreement? Such as socializing in another room so their child can not hear you chatting, or agreeing to turn the television down after 10pm for example.

3. Ask if you may come around to their home when you have guests to hear exactly what they can hear. It may be the construction of the walls is very thin and they can hear a lot more than you think they can.

4. Take reasonable steps to prevent noise, so move the speakers away from walls that adjoin theirs, stand noisy equipment on extra insulating material. Be particularly quiet when moving around late at night, put door closures on doors to prevent them slamming, take boots and shoes off at the door particularly if you have wooden floors etc. Work with your neighbour to reduce the noise as much as possible. Listen to how the noise is affecting them and their family and explain how their complaints are affecting your enjoyment of your accommodation. See if you can possibly come to a compromise. This would be the BEST solution for all.

5. If you really can't sort this out with the neighbours, go together to your local borough council, they will have a noise complaints and investigation section. If you go together they will usually also help with referrals to mediation after they have tested the level of noise to ensure it is within legal parameters.

6. Your last option should be to take this through the legal process. I assume you are tennants, if you are having any noise nuisance complaints made against you it may also mean your Landlord can legally ask you to leave as you are breaking the tenancy agreement. If you get to the stage that you really need legal advice, I suggest you go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau first.

Any problems between neighbours should be sorted out in a friendly manner, even if that means you both have to compromise. You REALLY DON'T want this to go further.

Jessie Said:

Foreign student buying a house in the UK?

We Answered:

I am afraid it's not possible for you to buy a house in the UK, unless you pay the full amount without applying for a mortgage.
To qualify for a mortgage, you must :
1. Have a permanent residency in the UK such as a British national, or a European national.
2. Have been working full time in the UK for the passed 3 years.
3. Have a clean credit record and not owing a large amount of debts at the moment of applying.

Peter Said:

(Student house in UK) Why would my landlord want to relet the house while it's occupied?!?

We Answered:

Hi,

It could be that he is looking for tenants after July rather than have the house empty over the summer.

You should check with your students union or the local citizens advice, but its actually very difficult to have anyone evicted unless they have violated their tenancy agreement in some way. (e.g. for none payment of rent) Even then the time and expense of going to court would not be worth his while. You'd probably have left by the time the case came to court,.

Find out your legal position, then chat with the guy to find out his plans. A reference from him that you are good tenants might be useful in the future.