NEIGHBOURS

Would you worry if you saw this guy (from Jim’s Jihad?) mowing the lawn next door?

Unlikely. . .  but it does illustrate the fact that neighbours can have a big effect on your enjoyment, or otherwise, of your house.

In fact 20% of us have fallen out with a neighbour in the last 5 years, and only 1% said all their neighbours were great.

Top Five Reasons for Neighbour Problems

Domain recently carried out a survey, and here are the top 5 reasons why people had problems with their neighbours:

  • Loud music (30%)
  • Late night parties (28%)
  • Barking dogs (26%)
  • Overhearing Shouting and arguing (16%)
  • Untidy property (15%)

Its often said “Tall fences make good neighbours’. . . .  but with the top four problems being noise related perhaps it should be “Tall fences and Good Sound Proofing make good neighbours!”

Before Buying a Block

If you are buying on a new subdivision who your neighbour will be is always a lottery . . . . so corner block have always been attractive to me as  it means one less neighbour.

If I was looking at a vacant block (or Knock down rebuild) in an established suburb I would aim to make visits:

  • During the middle of a working day to check for barking dogs.
  • Mid to late evening to check for loud music.

At Selection/PreStart

If you want better sound proofing two things you should consider are:

Smaller Windows – As solid walls have better sound reduction than Glass

Double Glazing – Much better noise insulation than single panes

See Noise for more posts

 

Photo courtesy of  neighborshame.com where you  will find more bad neighbour photos.