"but it also meant that our ground-floor neighbors don’t have a window blocked that’s under the stairs." That's a thing you could have done, cover their window

"but it also meant that our ground-floor neighbors don’t have a window blocked that’s under the stairs." That's a thing you could have done, cover their window with your AC unit? It seems like something that planning regulations should prevent. And still, they have a loud compressor right next to their window.