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Nuisance is a strange thing, what one person finds acceptable another can be driven crazy by. Interaction of flat communities is always fascinating though.
We recently had a flat which was let to some musician students who as you would expect wanted to practice their instruments. However what the letting agents failed to do was point out that the leases provided for no audible noise outside of the flats. Now for trumpets and clarinets the prospect of silencers is zero. If they are not to be audible outside of the flat then a sound proof box is the only answer, but impracticable!
Only one person had complained but was persistent in their complaints. Others had mentioned it could be heard but weren’t as vociferous.
Which brings us to the crux and a recurring theme; flat living is all about community and public spirit. A tit of tat approach is unworkable and anything other than respect for your neighbour is a road to hell.
In going through the issues with the agent for musical flat, they had ignored the lease terms and instead pointed out practicing was an integral part of the student’s course. We had put the counter proposition that if they were trainee lion tamers would it be reasonable to have lions roaming around?
Amusing but serves a purpose to highlight the extremes. The fact only one person made an actual complaint is not really the issue. After all if we have no water at a building less than 10% of the flats phone up to enquire why. The majority just assume someone else will deal or it will sort!
25 Jun 2010 08:45:18