Community news

Reporting a noise concern

We strongly encourage students living in private accommodation to get to know their neighbours. We also encorage local people to raise queries about noise directly with student tenants where possible.

The University's Community Liaison Team can broker contact between neighbours if direct contact is not possible: communityengagement@exeter.ac.uk

The university’s Estate Patrol (01392 723999) can also frequently explore noise disturbances from student addresses after 10pm. Please note that Estate Patrol will only be able to assist if on-campus incidents are not occurring.

Exeter City Council

The University works closely with Exeter City Council's Environmental Health department, but please be aware that we cannot pass a noise query on to the council on behalf of a resident. If you have concerns about noise form a particular address and wish to formally log your concerns directly with the council too, this must be done via the council website.

The Council are the only authority who can determine whether an official 'statutory' noise disturbance has occurred .

What happens next?

Details of all Estate Patrol visits are passed to the Community Liaison Team, who arrange follow up contact and escalate incidents to the Student Cases Team if necessary. In most instances, we simply discuss the noise advice contained in our Student Guide and encourage the students to reengage more positively with their neighbours.

There are a number of factors that could influence whether a student (or students) are considered for a more formal follow-up meeting. These factors are described in our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and Protocol 

A minority of students are reported to the university for anti-social behaviour. We rarely have to impose sanctions because our follow-up conversations usually prevent further incidents from occurring. This pattern has consistently been observed by University staff, the Police and Environmental Health.

Other factors to consider

• On occasion, some of the addresses that are reported to us are not occupied by students. In these instances, residents are encouraged to liaise with the Council or Police.
• Sometimes a 'repeat incident' occurring at an address could be caused by a different set of tenants who have just moved in. New students tend to move in at the end of August/start of September, but some tenants can move at different times throughout the year.
• Students may challenge noise concerns in some circumstances. The most common challenge being poor insulation between properties. We acknowledge the difference between anti-social noise and living noise and will encourage all residents to interact with the council's Environmental Health department if concerns of this type are raised.

Rubbish

We strongly advise students to plan ahead with refuse/recycling disposal and to communicate with Landlords and Letting Agents as soon as possible about refuse disposal options.

We understand that many students may be returning to properties with backlogs of waste and recycling and that food items from fridges and cupboards will need to be disposed of before tenants depart.

If waste is likely to be placed outside your premises for an extended period, please consider arranging an extra collection with your Landlord/Letting agent.

Waste left outside must be double-bagged to prevent spillage.

• Extra Rubbish? – Exeter students should call the council on 01392 265010 with good notice to arrange an extra collection. Please note that this is a charged service. Cornwall students seeking extra collections should visit Cornwall Council webpages or phone 0300 123 4141
• Extra Recycling? – Please note that you can dispose of an unlimited amount of recycling (except glass). Extra recycling that does not fit inside your recycling bin needs to be double-bagged and labelled ‘Recycling’ with the first line of your address.
• Extra Food? – If you are unable to take extra usable food to a foodbank drop-off point, please take it home and double-bag any perished food before placing it in your bin for disposal. For more information on food donations, please visit the foodbank websites for Exeter and Cornwall
• Extra Glass? – Please ensure that extra glass is delivered to your nearest bottle bank and not placed within in your normal recycling bin.