Apartment living etiquette

I live on the top floor of a large block and have mostly been happy here for 8 years. I had lovely neighbours until a year ago when a young couple moved in next door.

The man smokes cannabis and the smell is so bad I could smell it in my flat, indeed other residents could smell it throughout the block. I knocked on his door and told him it was a problem. He smiled and apologised - and carried right on doing it.

So I reported him to the management company. The company told the landlord, who informed them that it was supposed to be a no-smoking flat.

It stopped for a while but it has started again, however it is not so obvious and therefore not such a problem as before. They have got better at disguising it. At least they are mostly quiet.

I wish they would move but then you have to wonder, the next occupants might be worse.

That should have read Coco Pops which must auto correct stubbornly refuses to recognise.

You are very lucky Cocoons. My aunt and uncle live in an apartment complex like that. Everyone sticks to the rules, and there's a generally neighbourly atmosphere. It's quite an old apartment block and, since they moved in twenty years ago, most of the residents have remained the same bar a couple of sad deaths.

BlueBelle

What’s the difference between a flat or an apartment?
Is it the same? So is it a generational name we always called them flats or is it just a posh name for a flat ?

Some people evidently think that ‘apartment’ sounds swankier.

I’m still amused to remember some TV news item, where something untoward had happened in a small block of flats. The journalist right outside asked a young woman who’d just exited, whether she lived in one of the flats.

‘It’s not a flat - it’s an apartment!’ She was very put out!

I love my apartment. I like the security. I like the mix of old and young and different nationalities. Residents are respectful and compliant with the rules eg no smoking on balconies or in communal areas, dogs must be leashed in communal areas All the suites are sound proofed and all have hard wood flooring throughout. Several owners have a dog but I don't hear barking, We have a good management company. I have 2 parking spaces in the underground car park and no one has ever parked their cars there. No problems with people leaving stuff lying about in hallways or the lobby. No problems with bins. The only annoyance was from an owner who did not pick up after his dog in the garden. The management company emailed him to advise him accordingly. The owner did not comply so he was fined .He picks up after his dog now!

The only time I lived in a flat I always knew when my upstairs neighbour put the washing machine on.

It seems it wasn't installed properly and you could hear it 'walking' across the floor!

We had a problem with rubbish in the communal garden but that was more because people using the footpath alongside it threw their rubbish over into the garden!

Even though it was a conversion, it was a lovely, peaceful and friendly place with only the two issues above.

Aveline

*Pretty Nancy* - we don't have a lease at all. The flat is ours outright. This is in Scotland.

I understand that, I am in England and a lot of people here seem to think that 'share of freehold' means they either don't have a lease or, can ignore the terms of their lease!

a friend lives in a local authority sheltered flat,secure front door,
laundry room,common room, subsidised utility bills, trips out etc, sure there are some problems,with some of the residents,usually mental health related,but on the whole a nice place to live.When i return home to my home which is cold, needs constant upkeep,i often wish i could swap places!

Having lived in a prefabricated house adapted into 2 flats, with upstairs neighbours who even the police said could have won a neighbour from hell competition........I’ve ended up in a 1 x bed bungalow. It’s not soundproofed but actually is. The only sound from my adjoining neighbour is a click, when she switches her radio on at 10:10 to 10:20 each evening. A click from a wall switch!!!!
No complaints there I can tell you! Incidentally, the next tenants to follow me in to the prefabricated house flat. ....... ended up being arrested for attacking the noisy upstairs neighbour who was then himself arrested for drug offences.

A friend of mine lives in an apartment complex with security gates. She has a real problem with residents giving out the number willy nilly to relatives, friends etc so they can let themselves in and use the communal bin sheds to dispose of their rubbish.

lived in first floor apartment for five years the most annoying things were people having their TV or music up loud, slamming doors, telling visitors they could park anywhere in the car park regardless that it was allocated parking,a management company that ignored requests to speak to occupents who you have already tried to speak to about their loud tv.

Living anywhere, flat, terraced house, whatever, can be a joy or misery.

Hell is other people...

Pretty Nancy - we don't have a lease at all. The flat is ours outright. This is in Scotland.

i live in a flat that has indoor stairs to bedrooms and bathroom, when i moved in 20 years ago there was no children, my son had to be over 16, now it is full of children making noise and mess, there is 4 landings and nobody is allowed wooden floor above the 1st landing but they still put it in and h/a has not bothered to do anything, the person above me used to come in at 3am and put the washing machine on, slam drawers and microwave door, clicking across the wooden floor with her high heels, now i have children above and below. i try so hard to be considerate, headphones on late at night, rubbish put in bins (not left at side for seagulls). we do have rules but people don't bother and h/a just send out letters that everyone ignores. i have some good neighbours and one contacted my friend on another landing and she saved my life a few weeks before christmas when i got sepsis (hospital said if i had gone to sleep that night i would not have woke up). i stay here for the few friends i have and that is worth putting up with the other things.

Even if you have a 'share of freehold' and have bought your flat, you still have a lease!

Silverlining. In Germany neighbour noise is just not tolerated. Definitely no hard flooring. Noise on communal stairs is immediately reported to appropriate body. One thing I liked was if noise from your car ie radio, music, can be heard outside its a motoring offence and people don't hesitate to report the vehicle. We can do with a bit more "officialdom" as respect for others is quickly disappearing in UK.

for the pedants:
We call them condos if you own them, and apartments if you rent. The word flats is not used here in Canada, but I'm not sure about US usage.

I moved back to the UK and bought a specialist retirement apartment so I could avoid maintenance ....hoped to use (and was happy to pay for !) a maintenance team for things like light bulb replacing in the ceiling etc ...things I can no longer due (getting ancient now !) BUT the only maintenance team belongs only to the building ...so have to find tradesmen which is difficult ...but use Check a Trade and have eventually found everyone I need ! Sadly due to Covid all activities stopped ( ie weekly film club etc) I only bought it so I could travel, and again, could only travel in the COVID restriction intervals (have got lots in though !) so that there would always be someone to keep an eye on it ....again one snag is I cannot have a cat (I had three in France) (who I found lovely homes for).....residents charges are very very expensive, and parking has to be paid for and there are 42 flat and 20 space and no allowance for visitors or even medical people if needed. Sadly the age WAS over 50 but of course some have been here for years and are now well over 80 and have carers ...it is getting more like a care home every day (mind you, I guess maybe one day I will need one ha ha !) .....overall because of the reasons I bought it (security, 1 min from the beach, the Metro, public transport, cheap taxis, a ferry and an international airport) I am pleased with it .......did look to buy a bungalow but again, didn't feel secure on my own (husband died in France in 2019 so that and Brexit are the reason I moved back ) .........it is 'ok' but I do have to remind myself sometimes of why I bought an apartment and not a house !

I used to live in a ground floor flat, just four flats, it looked like a big pair of semi-detached houses....anyway, the first time my now husband stayed over (in the spare room, it was early days!) we were woken up at 3am by a loud ringing noise, he nearly had a heart attack! then we got back to sleep and it happened again at 4am and then 5am. It seemed the young man upstairs (who wasn't living there at the time) disapproved of me having what he called 'gentleman callers' .. I was in my 60's then and my only other visitor had been my son. He had put an alarm clock on the floor (without carpets) under a bucket, so it sounded like nothing on earth! I never forgave him for that, and when he wanted to sell (all 4 flats had a share in the freehold) I hung on to my transfer form and wouldn't sign it until he had apologised (grovelled). Now we live in a terraced house, and have to put up with screaming (and I mean REALLY screaming) children either side, one side look after their grandchildren every day and have them visit weekends, they are also deaf, so we get the worst of both worlds from that side... I long to win the Lotto and get a little cottage in the middle of a field!!

What is selfish idiot.

Where is here vintage jazz?

Aveline

That's exactly what I said Arewethereyet!
Americans call flats apartments!

Sorry Aveline - it read the opposite way round to me but I see it now ?

The first home I bought was a first floor flat in a 2 storey block. My downstairs neighbour was renting so despite being on the residents/management committee I didn't know his name. After a very disturbed night, followed by being exhausted all day at work, I wrote him a note explaining the lack of soundproofing and my need to sleep. That night he arrived home with loud music blaring from his car as usual. He came in noisily, banging doors etc then clearly read my note and silence ensued. I was never disturbed by him again.
I don't suppose he meant to be inconsiderate, just hadn't realised how much his noise impacted on me. Sometimes people just need things pointed out.

Obviously I have great sympathy for those with neighbours who are truly inconsiderate but I was lucky mine was just thoughtless! I never actually met him in person but a polite note was all that was required.

Bignanny2

I have just retired and bought myself a ground floor flat with a nice little private garden. The main thing that annoys me is that there are only 3 flats, I’m on the ground floor by the entrance door and there are two upstairs. I am the only one who ever cleans and the communal entrance hall. Although it’s by my flat - everyone uses it. But also the stairs to the upper floors have never been vacuumed or the banisters and walls wiped down etc. I can’t do them because of my disabilities! I think the upper flats are both rented out but I’ve never seen the landlords.

Whoever owns the freehold should clean the “common parts “ and if the leaseholders own a share of the freehold they should arrange for someone to do the cleaning paid out of the service charge.

Here blocks of purpose built units are called apartments.

Units in old converted houses are called flats.