I recently moved into a flat in central London.
The flat is quite old but in general is alright.
The problem comes when I realised yesterday that there are construction works right in front of the flat.
The noise is quite bad, and even during the night, I can hear a constant sound coming from the building that is being built, like something electric.
The thing is the windows are old, single hung.
I asked the agency (as the flat is managed by them) to contact my landlord and ask him to replace two windows for double glazed ones because the noise is terrible and it’s going to be like this at least one more year.
I would even pay part of the cost.
The response from the agency was literally: “it’s not possible at all”.
I don’t know what to do because it’s affecting me a lot especially on my sleep.
It’s possible that it genuinely isn’t possible if the property is listed or in a conservation area then the landlord may not be able to replace the windows.
It’s more probable that the landlord doesn’t want to pay and landlords dont like expensive requests from new tenants as they would normally feel you were happy with condition at the recent start of tenancy although appreciate sound at night wouldn’t have been known at that time.
A cheaper option would be secondary glazing which is actually more effective at blocking sound than double glazing so you could suggest that to your landlord.
Richard is correct secondary glazing is more effective to reduce sound, as the gap between the panes is wider. I cannot remember what the gap should be.
In some parts of London, the rules on listed properties/conservation areas are very strictly applied and there may also be a ban on secondary double glazing which the landlord would be reluctant to break. I lived in Queens Park NW6 once and the conservation area rules there forbade any alterations which would change the glazing or reflective character of the window, (or words to that effect). If that is the case, you may need to commission something that is readily removable. In another property I once constructed a secondary glazing panel made of a decent thickness of clear perspex edged with shower screen sealant strips. It fitted tightly into the window reveal about 3 inches from the outer window and was very effective.