Neighbour has reported ‘late-night goings-on’ in a tenant’s flat

I want to stay anonymous because I already feel ridiculous writing this, but I think most landlords will understand how quickly your mind spirals once neighbours start getting involved.

One of my tenants is a young woman who has lived in her flat for about eight months. She pays her rent on time, keeps the place immaculate and has never caused the slightest issue. It has been a dream tenancy, until recently.

About three weeks ago, the neighbour below messaged me to say she was “slightly concerned” about the number of men visiting the flat late at night. She said she had seen two different men within a couple of hours and wasn’t sure whether to say anything. I thanked her and tried to dismiss it. Adults are entitled to visitors. I told myself not to overthink it.

But once someone mentions something like that, it starts looping in your mind whether you want it to or not. I found myself wondering whether the neighbours were exaggerating or whether something really was going on. I felt embarrassed even having the thought.

A few days later, she messaged again. This tim,e she said she had heard “noises” on the stairs around one in the morning. She didn’t elaborate, but her tone said enough. Another neighbour later mentioned “activity” that “sounded a bit enthusiastic”. By this point, I felt stuck between respecting my tenant’s privacy and worrying I was being judged for ignoring what the neighbours clearly thought was inappropriate.

I told myself not to get dragged in. Then, last week, I happened to arrive at the building just as a man was coming down the stairs from the tenant’s flat. He looked startled to see me, muttered something, and quickly adjusted his shirt in that unmistakably self-conscious way that tells its own story. The moment was over in seconds, but it left me feeling like I had walked in on something private. I went back to my car and sat there for a few minutes trying to convince myself it was a coincidence.

Yesterday I finally decided to go over and “check the communal smoke alarm”,  more to reassure myself than anything else. I felt ridiculous even rehearsing what I might say if anyone asked why I was there. When I reached the landing, everything was silent for a moment. Then I heard it.

The unmistakable rhythmic creaking of a bed. Slow, then faster, then a muffled moan followed by a sort of breathy squeal.

I froze. Completely.

It was the kind of noise you are absolutely not meant to overhear, and I suddenly felt like I had no business being anywhere near that landing. My face burned with embarrassment. I didn’t know whether to knock, run, or apologise through the door.

I lifted my hand to knock, but before I touched it, something else caught my eye: a dripping ceiling above me. Another droplet appeared, then another.

Everything inside me switched instantly from panic to pure landlord dread.

Was it a burst pipe? Had it been leaking for hours? Was the ceiling about to come down?

The next half hour was chaos. I knocked on the flat above, but there was no answer. The neighbour across the hallway came out in slippers, asking if we were all about to flood. I rang the block manager. I rang a plumber. Someone fetched a bucket, and someone else insisted we shut off the rising main.

By the time the dripping slowed, I had completely forgotten why I had come in the first place.

So my question is simply this: if the leak has stopped for the moment, do I still need to get a plumber out immediately, or can it wait until Monday?