Hi

Does anyone have experience of this please? I've just bought a flat above a bank who have started putting their ATM aircon on for summer. It's expected to be running everyday, 24 hours. ie weekends non-stop too.
It vibrates my lounge floor, & as my flat is tiny can be heard throughout. It's not deafening, but definitely there, varying between a bit of a noise & very frustrating, also waking me up in the morning. (Suddenly I'm wide awake before my alarm & it's the first thing that I hear rather than snoozing 5 times as per usual)
The previous owner used the flat as an office, therefore even if I approach them I imagine the response will be that it wasn't a problem to them so wasn't considered as required info...

Anyway my first thoughts are surely if the bank is placing noisy machinery so close to my property, the sound of which causes a disturbance, surely they have a responsibility to sound proof?

Does anyone know please, thanks in advance.
Michelle

Oh poor you... that's one problem that would drive me nuts. I'd say your first port of call would be to visit the branches Bank Manager to register a formal complaint, not just a please could you. Offer him/her to inspect your property to listen to the noise involved and ask what course of action they would plan to take and timespan involved. Getting this person on your side will help and at this stage don't accept that the bank will do nothing. Next port of call will be the local councils noise control department and take their advise if the bank do nothing.

Good luck and let us know what happens

I would certainly let the Manager know of your concerns, he/she will probably contact their property management services for advice and guidance.

The noise has to be quite loud for the environmental people to be involved, but good luck.

I agree with the others, definitely speak with the manager first and see how you go. In fact, I'm pretty sure they can add some sort insulation to the area where the units are, because we've had a similar situation with one of our offices.

There are definitely things they can do, and like stateofplay says, the council should be able to do something - at the end of the day, your flat should not be vibrating and you shouldn't have to listen to it all the time. Why have they got it on so much anyway? Perhaps a compromise could be reached where they turn it off when they are shut i.e. evenings and most of the weekend? After all, it doesn't take long to cool it down again when they put it on.

Good luck!

Definitely contact the bank and if no joy the Council.
There was a pub near where I live which had to install sound proofing because their commercial fridges made a particularly loud humming noise which could be heard by the neighbours even when the pub was closed (during the night etc).

I disagree with who to contact.

The bank will most likely just tell you that there was no problem with the previous owner and they can't do anything about it or fob you off.

Your first move should be to contact the noise department of your local council. Get them to measure the noise and determine officially that it is a nuisance. If it is above the legal maximum level (or they determine that the equipment is causing other unacceptable disturbance, such as the vibration), then they will contact the bank with the authority to inform and enforce the need for action on the problem.

The bank won't thank you for it, so it's best to keep your face out of it if at all possible, so they don't glare at you as you enter / leave your flat. If they don't know who exactly has complained, they will not know whether it's you or your neighbours who has complained, and thus cannot have a go at you about it.

Ary.

Ary.

But it's a bank?! I can understand not wanting to upset a family that you may have to live next to for years to come but I can't imagine the employees of a bank really giving a toss either way that someone has complained. It's no skin of their noses is it? But in the interests of goodwill (PR),the management may want to be seen to be as a considerate neighbour and want to sort it out. I would have thought it would be easier to get a Commercial organisation to sort it out than a private house as they would be able to claim any costs back against tax etc anyway and they don't like to have their name splashed all over the papers!

It depends on the business... a large company will be interested only in saving costs. They won't care who's above them, as they will be moving jobs soon anyway. They will be more worried about not spending money sorting the noise out, and not annoying their workers by switching off the air con.

Businesses are actually worse than private people; as businesses generally install equipment to power cool large areas, wereas a private family is more likely to have a single small item in a localised area.

Ary.

Don't put too much trust in your local enviromental health , from my experience the system is designed to deter you . asking you to keep a diary for several weeks when you already know the problem and duration. they will drag the whole process out , trust don't waste your time.
As the previous replies suggest go straight to the bank and put them on notice, you are seeking legal advice for compensation for the ill effects to your health, but suggest to them you are willing to allow them to provide a comprenhisive sound proof barrier at there cost,if they can gaurantee this will work. There are several ways this can be achieved, mainly through "pugging". Infilling the void between their ceiling and your floor boards. this can be disruptive as your carpets and floor boards will need to be removed to allow access between the floor joists in order to place a base for the pugging material.
It is highly unlikely they will be able to sound proof the air-con unit. as the fan that causes the noise needs to be unrestricted for affective use. and don't be fobbed of with a suggestion they will relocate the unit you will still hear it. I would also suggest and importanly, ask why they have to run this during the night. and ensure they give you a straight answer. I cannot think of any reason for the need to run this 24 hours a day, other than for their own comfort for when they arrive in the morning. so go in hard. Better still pay a Solicitor to send the letter.

I think the original poster stated that the air con is for the ATM machine (which is in use 24hours a day).

I think the original poster stated that the air con is for the ATM machine (which is in use 24hours a day).

Thanks Elsa, stand corrected. Next time I'll try reading it more carefully. Thanks though.
Seems like shes in a nightmare situation, buying a commercial property for domestic habitation! a stiky one. Maybe her conveyencing Solicitor was at fault for being negligent for not picking this up. but even if she had a case, it could take months to resolve , by that time she will be a nervous wreck from lack of sleep. I wish her luck.

I get the impression this is the first time the flat has been used as a residence, therefore the noise did not bother at all the people who had previously used it for storage, or whatever.

You could try asking the Bank Manager for the address of the Regional Office as the noise from the ATM is being a nuisance. Conversationally ask if they have a Property Department who would be able to sort out as surely there are plenty of ATMs in premises with residential flats above. That way you are not accusing or storming at the branch but trying to get the Manager on your side in an attempt to sort out.

As soon as you make any contact with anyone, make a note of it in a diary with time and name(s) if possible. Just saying you have such a list will help further down the line.

I sympathise with your plight - must be extremely annoying. However, it goes to show that buying a flat above commercial premises is always a potential minefield and something I would personally never consider. Who is to say that the bank branch might close and the premises then be used as a bar, or bookies, or KFC, or pet shops....anything? Then an ATM air-con unit might not seem so bad after all....

The noise of an air con unit is probably never going to be loud enough for the police/council to get involved so for the soundproofing I'd approach the bank first. I'm not sure about the vibration, you might be able to sort something out with the council about that but may as well point that out to the bank too.
If you're going past the branch manager, make sure you have a specific person to address the letter to, it's more effective than just having a job title.

Hi everyone
Thanks for all your responses.
The flat was previously used as an office, however was prior to that rented out - I wish I could find out who live here at that time. It is still carpeted etc & in fact had bed etc still in it. So it doesn't look like an office, was just used as one, & as an infrequent london stopover.
I had actually approached the bank first, their facilities office spoke to the branch & determined that it was the aircon, then said they would not deal with me I must go through the landlord..who is also my landlord. At the same time I had already contacted my freehold's managing agents (does that make sense, it's a leasehold property(does THAT make sense!)) They said to contact environmental health...which I thought was odd - 'reporting' them rather than trying to resolve it ourselves.
I had the name of asst manager that the facilities office spoke to, called her (to make the friendly personal contact in the hope she would help matters)on Thurs as the noise had stopped on Weds eventually & she advised they had turned it lower. Thanked her & advised her that was sufficient as it wasnt' disturbing me. She was very pleasant & gave me the branch's number which they don't usually do. I assured her that I wasn't complaining about nothing, it was disruptive, could be heard throughout my flat & was waking me up. If she could keep it low I would appreciate it. She said she would try but the ATM was sun facing & if it got too hot they would need to turn it up...
Was at home on Fri & went down to introduce myself, but she was busy with ATM which wasn't working. Friday night - guess what, turned on! Bank closed. ATM not working. Wrote her a letter expressing disappointment that the aircon was left on high, in time for the weekend when I'm at home, with an ATM not in opertion anyway, & a weather forecast of cloud & rain for the whole weekend.
Monday - Thursday, aircon off again. Last night (Friday) back on. Granted it may be a warm weekend, & the ATM is in operation, so far. But as someoneone said, does it really need to be 24 hours. Really 11AM - 4 PM the hottest time of the day should be sufficient.
Had called Thurs to warn them that I had been told to contact environmental health by our managing agents, so that they knew they may receive a call / visit, & to let them know that their (my) agents had told me to do so. They mentioned that their suveyor (although perhaps they meant aircon service?!) was coming out on Monday to look into it. Told them that he was welcome to contact me, I would be home Friday if he wanted to come & listen, unfortunately couldn't get Monday off.
Friday night, on again. So getting a tad fed up. Was in tears last night I was so frustrated. However I am worried that environmental health doesn't deem it important enough, as it isn't deafening, just frustratingly constant & can't get away from it.
I can't afford solicitors to maybe then not win & have my costs refunded!
Yes it could have been worse - smelly food or pub with loud music, but that doesn't mean that I should have to put up with it. Surely it can't be right that we just have to accept machinery or any noise from neighbours that aren't the usual 'living' noises. I would have expected that if anyone runs loud machinery / fits it so close to another property, they'd have to ensure that it doesn't disturb their neighbours - whether commercial or residential. What would happen if I made an annoying noise that they & their customers had to listen to all day - the staff would get fed up & they would claim loss of business if customers wouldn't go there any more, however I don't have the choice to not come home anymore!
Any knowledge of this aspect would be appreciated! (And names of no win-no fee solicitors that specialise in this field!)

Thanks again for your time, have a great (& peaceful) weekend
M

You need to get environmental health involved, as there is no point getting a solicitor if environmental health deem it to be ok. In order to sue, you need evidence, and your own experience is not enough, you need the noise people to say it is unacceptable, or the case will just fail.

To be fair, cases like this are usually why banks and building societies these days, don't mortgage properties that are above commercial premises.

Hi Michelle
I have every simpathy with you and totaly empathise with your frustration. I think in the 21st.century it should be a human right to have a quite period to unable sleep. In Switeland it is an offence to flush your toilet after 11pm. so there are some civilized people in the world.
I would have thought they could place this on a simple time switch from 11pm to say 6am. I'm always finding ATMs out of use. it really is no big deal, afterall these machines are just for convienence..your SLEEP IS VITAL to your very existance.
Are you aware, that today certain countries use sleep deprevation as a means of torture, knowing it,s affectiveness.
It has also occured to me, as your landlord owns both units. may have had knowledge of this problem from the prevoius leasee, so it may be worth continuing to investigate further.
Two other useful lines of help. would be to go straight to the Banks Public relations office, they hate any adverse publicity, especially if it's the "caring bank".
Another very affective campaigner is "Steven Rhodes" of "BBC Radio 3 Counties". who get amazing results. and will happily deal with any enquiry from outside there range.
One other thing tell us know the name of this Bank, so maybe we could all write and complain of their lack of care.
Let us know how you get on.

From your first post it seems that it isn't keeping you awake at night, but is background noise which is annoying? I'm not sure Environmental Health would do much about it in that case to be honest, but they're definitely your first port of call.

Are you the owner of the flat or renting? In your first post you said you'd bought the flat, and later on say you've got a landlord so I'm a bit confused.

If you can't sleep, buy earplugs in the interim until it is sorted out. Once you notice a background noise, you listen for it and it makes it worse - I live across from a nightclub and used to live below junkies so know how awful noise can be.

Thanks for the BBC3 name, Designs that speak, I will definitely look into that & the bank's PR if I can't resolve this amicably.
I'll give them a bit longer before I throw my toys though. :-)

Beecher: I own the flat but not the freehold, the bank & my leasehold agreements are with the same freeholder; the noise means I am unable to study at home; I have to turn my TV louder when watching; I can only sit in one lounge chair as the other one is right next to the noise so it drones in one ear (& lounge too small to re-arrange); I can get to sleep because I turn my radio onto a timer next to my bed & the radio is eaiser to fall asleep to than the droning for some reason, however in the early hours of the morning I am presumably sleeping lighter & so the aircon wakes me up. I hear what you're saying re listening for annoying noises, but certainly isn't the case when I'm sleeping / concentrating on comedy on TV - yet still hear it.

Wickedkitten, I thought only food places & pubs were a problem, thought I was safe with a bank, now I know better!

Thanks all,

In fear of receiving a fierce flaming for this, I think you were pretty stupid to buy the gaff in the first place.

I would imagine that you decided to buy that particular pad because IT IS above a bank and generally speaking, aren't known to be a noise nuisance. However, as ovalyellow pointed out above, while the premises below you is a bank RIGHT NOW, you've absolutely no idea whether they'll still be there in 1 months time or a decades' time and could easily end up with a night club there instead.

Would you still be complaining about the banks ATM air-con hum if it were a toss up between that or 120dB music til 4am in the morning?

From the way you describe it, it sounds like you'd be better buying a farm house in the middle of nowhere, but I've no doubt you'd then be contacting the environmental health and noise regs people to get the cows to stop mooing and the sheep to stop baaing.

You wanna try living on Ringway Rd in Manchester, or alongside a high speed railway line or motorway, for example(s), you'll soon stop whinging about your "low hum" air con noise then. Sheesh.

R

quote:

From the way you describe it, it sounds like you'd be better buying a farm house in the middle of nowhere, but I've no doubt you'd then be contacting the environmental health and noise regs people to get the cows to stop mooing and the sheep to stop baaing.

LOL, not much sympathy from you then!

I lived on a main road, right next to a roundabout, and at the top of a hill where the aggregates lorries would pound up all day and night and it was opposite a pub that had just introduced Kareoke on a Sunday night. If I here "and I will always love you" one more time I will go mad, not everybody likes Whitney, and none of the mentally challenged over in that pub were Whitney! My cat did a better version when I trod on it's tail.

But, I still managed to get a good nights sleep, because the noise went in the middle of the night. This poor lady has to listen to it all through the night, and everything sounds more noisy in the dead of night. I feel sorry for her.

Oh someone pass me a violin ffs.



R