Advice on noise pollution in rental apartments

Questioner

As of June 1st, I rented an apartment through an estate agent. From the first night I spent there, I could hardly sleep because the neighbor had the TV on very loudly all night. I have said something about it several times, but he seems to be somewhat demented and pretends not to know anything. I heard from other residents that the previous resident had moved out because of the nuisance. So the nuisance already existed before I rented the apartment and must have been known to the estate agent. The caretaker (who is also aware of the nuisance) says that he will send a letter to my neighbor, but I have no confidence in him. I think this has happened before and it leads to nothing. What is the best thing for me to do from a legal perspective? I think the realtor should have pointed out the inconvenience to me. The apartment is in fact uninhabitable for me and in order to arrive at work refreshed, I have to go somewhere else to sleep.

Lawyer

The broker has a duty of care, which also includes the duty to provide information. He must act as a reasonably acting and reasonably competent broker and inform you of all information known to him. The question arises whether the nuisance is known to him and can be attributed to him by failing to report it. For example, if you have explicitly stated that peace and quiet is an important point for you and the broker knew about the nuisance, then you have a point and you can hold him responsible for it.

Lawyer

Noise pollution is a subjective matter. Everyone experiences it differently. Within an apartment complex, you must always take into account some nuisance from neighbours. The other residents must, as apartment owners, behave according to the standards of reasonableness and fairness towards the other owners or residents and may not cause noise pollution. Given the nature and extent of the noise pollution caused by the neighbour, you will have to write to the landlord of your apartment about this and demand that he take measures against the neighbour, either via the VvE or otherwise. After all, the landlord must provide you with the peaceful enjoyment of the apartment. Since this is not the case, he is failing as a landlord. If your landlord is also the owner of the neighbour's apartment, he is even more obliged to stop the nuisance. If you can demonstrate that the estate agent indicated that the absence of noise nuisance was an important condition for you to conclude the lease agreement and if it is established that the estate agent deliberately or unconsciously failed to inform you of the known noise nuisance, then you can annul the lease agreement on the grounds of error.