Be a Good Neighbour
Introduction
With many students choosing to live in the private sector and with many properties available in different types of neighbourhoods, tensions can arise between students and local residents. Many of these surface as a result of the different lifestyles of both groups.
When you move into a residential community, even if there are many other students living there, there will also be people doing 9-5 jobs, elderly people, people with young families, people suffering from long-term illnesses all of whom will probably have very different lifestyles from students.
Poor relationships with your neighbours will probably spoil your year as well as causing general bad feeling towards the College. Therefore the College and the Students' Union would very much like you to read this, and to do all you can to maintain good relationships between our students and the local community.
Introduce yourself to your neighbours once you move in. Listen out carefully for what their particular priorities and sensitive spots seem to be; this will give you very valuable clues as to how to keep on the right side of them. Then remember the following pointers and be a good neighbour!
Noise
A common cause of friction is a different attitude to noise levels and especially about the times when it is okay to be noisy. People tend not to notice the noise they make, but get very upset by others' noise. Students generally seem very noise tolerant (except when they are revising!), which can make them unaware of others' sensitivity.
Keep the noise down inside and outside your house. Generally in a residential setting, people do not expect to be able to hear noise from adjoining houses - full stop. Unlike in student halls - where there is a noise curfew, but it is fairly flexible outside exam time - in the local community there is a general expectation that there will not be excessive noise at any time and that there will not be noise at all after about 11pm on weekdays - when neighbouring parents expect their children to be able to sleep before school and when people who have to start early for work will also be going to bed. This can take a bit of getting used to after living in hall.
Be aware of noise levels within the house - the more people there are in, the more noise you will all make. Keep windows and doors shut and music at a reasonable level. Be particularly careful when coming back late in the evening - especially after drinking in a noisy environment - when your perception of how much noise you are making may be dulled. Because students keep late hours, they often do not realise how late it actually is and when neighbours will expect quiet. Banging doors and shouting from room to room can often be heard next-door; especially where walls are thin and living rooms adjoin. Students who go into the garden late at night (sometimes because their tenancy agreements do not allow smoking indoors) and talk loudly can forget that voices carry a long way! This creates a problem when it wakes up children or prevents others getting to sleep.
Remember your key when you go out so you won't waken the neighbours when you get back. Know who is in your house at all times and don't let guests or friends who are staying annoy your neighbours and undo all your good work - you'll get the blame because legally you are responsible.
Try to avoid getting into a competitive noise scenario. Responding to the neighbours' noise from children by turning your stereo up will cause bad feeling to escalate very fast.
When arranging a party, inform and involve your neighbours in advance and agree a reasonable time to bring the party to an end - you may even want to invite your neighbours. Unless you have particularly relaxed neighbours, don't expect to party weekly - get your friends elsewhere to use their houses too so as to spread the load. Friday and Saturday nights, when people don't have to get up for work or get their kids into school, are more acceptable party nights.
Additional information
Appearance of Houses
You are just passing through, but local residents will have strong feelings about the state of the street. They will worry if properties begin to look dilapidated in case this has a knock-on effect. The British are traditionally very house-proud; in few other countries do people have the same owner-occupier system with the same amount of personal wealth (and therefore emotion) invested in their home.
Don't pile rubbish around the bin or let it overflow. The Council Contractors do not have to pick up rubbish that is not in the bins so it will probably just stay there. If your bin is not big enough for all the rubbish, ask your landlord to get a second one or ask the Council yourself. (Contact Runnymede Depot on 01932 425750 or 01932 425776). Extra bins cost from £25 (which is why the neighbours worry when they think students are joyriding in theirs). Bin day in Egham and Englefield Green is Tuesdays - part of the knack of avoiding a build-up is not missing the bin day. There is also a blue-box recycling scheme which helps get rid of papers, discarded essays etc (phone 0800 052 0067 for details and box).
Don't leave old furniture in the garden. You can contact the council about a special collection (same numbers, same cost) or take it to the tip yourself (local tip is at Lyne Lane, Lyne - behind Virginia Water). Be especially careful about this when you are vacating the property as the bad feelings about your uncollected rubbish may well be taken out on the students who follow you.
If your contract means you have to keep the gardens tidy, have a go. If you have not been given the equipment, pester the landlord or arrange to borrow a neighbour's - students who have asked ask nicely enough have sometimes had neighbours mow their lawn for them! If your contract requires your landlords to keep the outside of the house tidy, hold them to it; explain to neighbours the issue is not your fault if they don't do it.
Cars
As a country we have far too many cars for our road-space, particularly in this part of the South East. Add to that the fact that peoples' emotional attachment to their car is often second only to their attachment to their home and it is clear that trouble can quickly flare. Car problems have become severe enough around College that there is increasing pressure to bring in parking regulations. The more this happens, the more difficulty it will cause students, so don't contribute to the problem if you can help it.
It is helpful if you park considerately and neatly. Badly parked cars can prevent other people getting in and out of their drives. Some of your neighbours will have vans or even caravans to get out and they are not going to want to wait for you to graduate before they can have a holiday. Cars half-parked on pavements, gardens or other peoples' lawns can cause friction, as can careless manoeuvring. Bumps and scrapes can cause huge problems - if you own up it is expensive; if you don't neighbours go ballistic - and that's before you consider the damage to your own car. Consider swallowing your pride and get someone to guide you in to a narrow space if need be.
It helps if you can limit the build-up of cars around your house and your friends' houses - your landlords may have stipulated how many cars the house has parking for, in which case don't exceed it. Consider whether you need everyone living with you to have their car at College or if you can take turns. You could tell visiting friends if parking is limited certainly don't offer your street as a place people can leave their cars if they don't live there.
Drive thoughtfully in residential areas - don't rev your engine, leave your car with the engine running or park with the stereo on and the windows open. Never use the horn as an alternative to getting out and knocking at the door. If you are really too lazy to walk up the front path, text or phone to say you have arrived! Never drive fast or carelessly around people or their children - the fear this raises will make people extremely angry.
General Points
Try to develop a relationship with your neighbours and they may keep an eye on your property for you, hold your spare keys or help out in an emergency.
Although these suggestions might mean some restrictions in the short-term, it will make life easier for you and your friends. It might also make it easier for you to persuade you neighbours to put off mowing the lawn or drilling up their patio until after you have finished your revision or woken up!
If problems arise try to talk it through and sort it out amicably. If you are doing okay but others down the street are causing large-scale problems, talk to someone in the SU or Student Services to see if we can find a way to defuse the situation. If you do find yourself involved in a dispute with neighbours, e-mail (community@rhul.ac.uk) or come in and talk to us as soon as possible; we will always support the amicable resolution of problems.
Please Take Care
Royal Holloway is committed to maintaining the best possible relationship
with the local community. We are also aware that the vast majority of
our students contribute greatly and in many ways to the local community
and local economy. The College respects the independence of its students;
it is not our job to supervise the behaviour of people who are legally
adults. The tiny minority of students who wilfully or repeatedly upset
local residents by unreasonable behaviour are not only making life difficult
for those around them, they are also harming the College and disadvantaging
future students. The College now works closely with the local Council,
the Police and the Environmental Health Department to ensure those responsible
for serious anti-social acts are clearly identified. If it is officially
substantiated that students are behaving in a way that is damaging to
the College's reputation, we will use the powers at our disposal to
discipline and if necessary in extreme cases even to exclude the perpetrators.