Rent or buy?

We were renting a house we were going to buy from friends but they decided not to sell, so we rented a small apt. with low rent so we could save faster for a down payment, also the lease was month to month. But our upstairs neighbors are horrible. (late night parties, posible criminal activity, landlord doens't care, won't intervene) We have 4 kids and they can't even play outside because of the neighbors. I want to just rent a single family house for a year and work on our credit and downpayment. My husband wants to tough it out for 6 months and buy a cheap house. What is more important, a safe place to raise our kids now or home ownership?