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If you want to live in complete silence, you should not live in an apartment building.
What would you do if your downstairs neighbor complained and banged on her ceiling every time you or your family walked in your apartment, even though you were being quite quiet?
That is what is happening to the family in this story, and they are at their wits’ end trying to figure out what to do. They want to be good neighbors, but they can’t be 100% silent at all times.
I think they either need to move out or just ignore the complaints of their neighbor. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.
I need some insight about my downstairs neighbor
I live in a standard UK apartment. We live on the 3rd floor. Our downstairs neighbor has been bothering us over and over again. These are what she has done so far:
Let’s see what the neighbor is doing.
16/05/2026 – 15:00
Neighbor starts hitting our floor (Her ceiling) hard. Goes to balcony and starts hitting the iron balcony hard whilst yelling, claiming we are making too much noise.
My husband came down stairs to speak with her and try to reason with her. She was irritated by the “noise” the baskets made when we had our groceries delivered.
These requests are unreasonable.
Neighbor insisted that the sound of our walking around the apartment is “Tormenting” her. She even went as far as to suggest that we schedule our cleaning every mondays and thursdays because these are the days she is not home. She also suggested we contain our toddler to one area of the house.
Their conversation ended with the neighbor conceding and accepting that it is indeed a building structural issue.
The neighbor is never going to be happy living in an apartment.
19/05/2026- 17:40
3 loud banging sounds cause walls to vibrate (We thought it was caused by knocking on the front door but wasn’t) Unsure of cause. But later we find out it was the neighbor downstairs banging her ceiling.
20/05/2026 – 16:00
I woke up from a nap to an Aggressive and repeated ringing on the intercom. But no answer. We thought it was just some kids playing outside. This occurred twice. Later that day we find out it was the neighbor downstairs.
They are allowed to walk around in their own apartment.
20/05/2026 – 22:00
I was in bed asleep with my toddler who was sleeping as well. Husband came into bedroom from his shower but I Woke up again to Aggressive and repetitive ringing of the intercom/Door Buzz, husband answered the buzz, it was the neighbor downstairs. She started yelling “You keep walking around all day.”
Reported her to the landlady through whatsapp message.
Wow, the property owner is going to sell the whole unit just to get away from this lady.
21/05/2026 – 09:15
Me and my husband spoke to our landlady. According to our landlady, the neighbor is not cooperating despite explaining to her that it is a structural issue.
Our landlady has emailed the housing association and according to them even if there will be a change of tenants, the neighbor will still complain. This is why our landlady has decided to sell the property ultimately forcing us to move out soon.
There isn’t much that the police can do here.
21/05/2026 14:00
Husband went to the Police station to seek advice. Police told him that as long as there is no threat to our lives, we cannot report her to the police. If she however, stands in front of our door and insists of knocking and aggressively doing so, we can call the police.
As per them, she can bang her ceiling and balcony all she wants, it is her property after all. As per Police, we can move about the house and even be loud from 7 in the morning until 11pm.
At night we are allowed to move about reasonably like walking. As per police, she should not even be in an apartment building if she cannot handle the sound from other apartments.
If she is bothered this much by noise, she needs to find a home to buy.
22/05/2026 – 07:00
Saw a letter on our doormat, from the neighbor downstairs, claiming she has tried to talk to us about the noise, she said it bothers her so much to the point that it has affected her mental health, she is bothered by my baby’s crying, the footsteps and things that fall on the floor.
11/6/2026 – 02:00am
Woke up to 3 loud bangs again.
They should keep reporting the neighbor to the landlord.
14/06/2026 – 10:30
Toddler was walking normally across the living room rug. The neighbor downstairs violently hit her ceiling three times in retaliation. This has terrified my child.
19/06/2026 – 08:40 AM
My husband left the flat to take the rubbish to the bins. While I was cleaning the toilet, my 1-year-old toddler walked down the hallway to follow me. The downstairs neighbor immediately began violently hammering on her ceiling, causing our floor to vibrate heavily.
This could be very scary to a child.
As my toddler walked out of the room, the resident downstairs actively followed his footsteps from below, repeatedly hammering the ceiling directly underneath where his feet were touching the floor.
19/06/2026 – 17:35
While having guests in the house, my guests were sitting in the living room watching a movie, my toddler was walking about in the kitchen and hallways, the neighbor downstairs started banging our floor again following my toddlers steps.
Now the guest is getting in on it.
19/06/2026 – 17:50
Guest was napping in the living room, one guest woke up from the neighbor’s banging again following my toddler’s foot steps, she was very upset and stomped on the kitchen floor in retaliation for the Neighbor’s banging.
Who turns their AC off at night?
09/07/2026 – 20:20
Saw neighbor in the hallway, when I arrived home, she complained that our AC is making too much noise and should be off by 11pm. She said she had been enduring this for the past 3 weeks and even required to be hospitalized due to the noise.
We had been away from home the past 3 days and she chose to tell us today when I arrived home.
I don’t think this will ever end.
28/07/2026 18:41
I was sleeping in the bedroom. My husband and my son were in the living room. The neighbor downstairs, started banging her ceiling again, following my toddler’s footsteps.
They have done all they can to stay quiet.
I have written this neighbor 2 letters now, explaining to her that I cannot restrict my toddler from moving around the flat as this is part of his growth and development.
I have explained to her that I even bought thick rugs, shock absorbing matts to put on our floors but the floors themselves are quite creeky.
Maybe this neighbor is trying to drive a wedge into their relationship.
As per my husband this kind of behaviour can be ignored, however, I have also noticed that when interacting with my husband the neighbor downstairs acts all nice and timid.
But when I come across her in the hallways, all she has to say to me are complaints about my toddler, complaints about our footsteps, she would tell me things like reporting us to the council, or the police etc etc.
This would get old quickly.
In my perspective she has been increadibly disrespectful, and her banging and complaining has become oppressive.
I am miserable, as I get anxiety everytime something falls on the floor as I have began to anticipate that she will start aggressively hitting her ceiling (our floor) again or yell through her window.
At the end of the day, there isn’t a lot that they can do to pacify the neighbor. They will either need to move out or try to keep filing complaints to see if the neighbor will be evicted.
Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this difficult situation.
File a complaint with the housing association, if one exists.
I honestly think this is a good option.
Now this is a great idea.
This commenter says the neighbor is harassing them. I agree.
If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a student who did the math and figured out he was better off skipping school than serving detention if he forgot his ID.
The neighbor needs her own home.
At this point, their neighbor is harassing them, and they should treat it as such. They need to document every time it happens and make a recording of it if possible.
Then, they can file complaints with the landlord and possibly other agencies to try to get the neighbor to stop or move out.