Noise and Nuisance in a Shared House in Utrecht: What to Do
Most of what is written about nuisance is written about neighbours: the people next door, upstairs or across the courtyard. A shared house has the same problem with one difference. The person making the noise is on your landing, shares your kitchen, and may be on the same lease.
This post uses the official guidance that exists, says where it was written for neighbours, and says where we could not find an answer for housemates.
Step 1: say what, and when
Juridisch Loket's first step is a conversation: explain exactly what bothers you and when, and try to agree something practical. Its own example is an agreement that a piano stops at 20.00. Another is small and physical, rubber feet under a washing machine.
Rijksoverheid adds the other side of it: neighbours must accept normal living sounds. It names children playing, coughing in the daytime, vacuuming and slamming doors. A housemate who runs the dishwasher at 19.00 is living in the house, not harming it.
If you already have house rules, this is where they earn their keep. Our free house rules template has a section for quiet hours and guests.
Step 2: keep a log
Juridisch Loket says nuisance needs evidence, and recommends a log: what you heard, when, for how long. You can also record sound inside your own home. A professional sound measurement is at your own cost, and a landlord is not obliged to pay for it.
A log also protects you. It shows the difference between "it happens every Thursday after midnight" and "it was loud once".
Step 3: put it in writing
If talking does not work, Juridisch Loket suggests asking in writing that it stops, and it publishes a sample letter for burenoverlast. In the same letter you can offer buurtbemiddeling.
Step 4: buurtbemiddeling
A buurtbemiddelaar helps with problems between neighbours, such as noise, smoke or smell. Juridisch Loket says it is usually free. It only works if both sides want it. If your gemeente has none, a mediator is the alternative, and mediation is not free.
In Utrecht the gemeente's page on woonoverlast names the buurtteam and the team Buurtbemiddeling of U Centraal as the next stop after your landlord.
Step 5: the landlord, and the part we could not source
For a tenant, Juridisch Loket says: report the nuisance to your landlord in writing, and the landlord must deal with it, unless the neighbours rent from someone else or own their home. If the landlord does too little you can complain to the Huurcommissie within one year of the nuisance starting. A housing association tenant goes first to the association's complaints committee.
That text is written for a neighbour who rents from the same landlord. We did not find a page that says what a landlord must do when the nuisance comes from a co-tenant of the same joint lease. We also did not find one that says what happens to a co-tenant who is the cause. Art. 7:213 BW says a tenant must behave as a good tenant, and Juridisch Loket says that when a landlord claims you cause nuisance, they have to prove it, with photos, reports from other residents or police reports, and give you a copy of the file if you ask. Beyond that, for housemates on one lease, we are not going to guess. If it gets that far, ask Juridisch Loket or a lawyer about your own lease.
One thing that does apply to a shared lease: while your name is on it, you stay responsible for what it says, even after you move out. Our post on what happens when a housemate leaves a joint lease covers that.
Step 6: gemeente, police, court
The gemeente Utrecht says on its noise page that it does not handle noise nuisance from neighbours. For direct nuisance it points you to the police on 0900 - 88 44, and for something that keeps happening to buurtbemiddeling. Juridisch Loket lists the meldpunt overlast of your gemeente as a step for serious nuisance, where the gemeente can fine the person causing it or ban them from a place for a time. Utrecht's own noise page says otherwise for noise from neighbours, and we could not settle from the pages which of the two applies to a house share, so go by the Utrecht pages.
The last step is the court. Juridisch Loket says a lawyer is required in a case against neighbours, not in one against your landlord, and that a court can order the nuisance to stop, set a dwangsom for each day it continues, or grant a rent reduction. You need to be able to show it is onrechtmatige hinder, nuisance the law does not allow, which is why Step 2 comes first.
Where Vond fits
We start with Roommates. Vond opens soon in Utrecht, and the first thing that opens is a way to find people to live with. A Roommates profile describes a person: how they live, when they get up, how they feel about guests and noise. Those are the answers that make Step 1 unnecessary. It has no field for rent, address or availability, and it is free in beta. Join the waitlist for Roommates.
For rooms that appear on Vond, we speak to whoever is letting the place and build the listing with them. We do not verify identity, we do not check a register on your behalf, and there is no verification badge on Vond.
General information, not legal advice. Sources: Juridisch Loket on noise from neighbours, Juridisch Loket on nuisance, Rijksoverheid on neighbour nuisance, gemeente Utrecht on noise, gemeente Utrecht on woonoverlast, art. 7:213 BW.