This section tells you what we will do if you report an incident of anti-social behaviour to us. We work with residents' groups, the police and other agencies in dealing with anti-social behaviour. Our policy has been developed involving residents and residents' groups. An incident reporting form is available at the end.

Our commitment

We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour in our communities and encourage you to report anti-social behaviour to us. We hope that you will work with us to ensure that our communities remain peaceful places to live in. We will take appropriate action to prevent anti-social behaviour.

Your commitment

We expect you to be a good neighbour and respect your neighbours' privacy and comfort. Under the terms of our tenancy and leasehold agreements it is your responsibility to ensure that members of your household and your visitors do not cause a nuisance or annoyance to other people in the neighbourhood.

What is anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour is behaviour by others that unreasonably interferes with people's rights to the use and enjoyment of their home and community.
This can mean anything from persistent noise nuisance to serious violence or other criminal behaviour which affects your quality of life.

Examples include:

  • persistent loud noise from music, radio, TV, dogs or car engines
  • excessive and persistent noise, disturbance or abusive behaviour causing severe distress
  • minor but persistent anti-social behaviour
  • violent or challenging behaviour towards staff or contractors
  • racial or other forms of harassment or other discriminatory behaviour
  • poorly controlled pets
  • thoughtless parking
  • untidy gardens and rubbish in common areas
  • violence, intimidation (including verbal abuse) and unruly and offensive behaviour
  • vandalism and damage to property
  • aggressive and threatening language and behaviour
  • drug dealing

What you can do

It is often best to try to sort the situation out for yourself first. If you involve us before speaking to your neighbour, it could make the situation worse.

If a neighbour is disturbing or upsetting you, first try to speak to them, in a friendly way, asking them to stop. They may not realise they are disturbing you. If you want we will provide support and encouragement to help you resolve the problem with your neighbour. If this does not work and the problem continues then you should get in touch with your Housing Management Officer. If the situation is serious enough we will speak with you and the person being complained about to try to resolve the problem. If your neighbour becomes violent or threatening you should call the police and also let us know. The police can also deal with persistent name-calling and pestering.

Reporting anti-social behaviour

If you report anti-social behaviour to us we promise to:

  • record your complaint
  • assess its seriousness
  • investigate and respond accordingly

We will:

  • take your report of anti social behaviour seriously
  • pass your report to your Housing Management Officer
  • acknowledge your report in writing
  • investigate the report as early as possible after receiving the complaint
  • try to identify and interview anyone involved in the incident
  • complete the investigation as quickly as possible
  • write to you telling you what was the outcome of the investigation and what we propose to do

Breach of tenancy or lease agreement

We need evidence of the nuisance. You should complete and return diary sheets. If the problem continues and is viewed as a breach of tenancy/lease, further action including applying to court to take back your neighbour's home will be considered. If court action is going to be taken you may be asked to give a statement as evidence, and you may be required to attend court.

What if there is no breach of tenancy or lease agreement?

If the behaviour you are complaining about is not a breach of the tenancy or lease agreement, we will write and tell you that we will not be taking any further action for a breach of tenancy/lease. If there have been no further reported (similar) incidents for four weeks after the first report, we will write to tell you that we will be taking no further action. We may however be able to offer you support from our Community Services Team or outside agencies such as mediation or environmental health. You can also take a private legal action against another person. You may wish to seek legal advice when doing so.

Service standards

When dealing with your report we will:

  • pass details of your complaint on to your Housing Management Officer within 1 working day of receiving it
  • begin looking into serious incidents within 1 working day
  • acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it
  • write to the person being complained about within 5 working days of receiving the complaint
  • speak with the people involved (where appropriate) as soon as possible
  • write to everyone concerned advising them of the outcome of any investigation
  • if no action is to be taken for a breach of tenancy / lease we will write and tell you
  • if there are no further reported incidents of anti-social behaviour within 20 working days of the first report, we will write and tell you we are taking no further action and the case will be closed

Partnerships

In dealing with noise and nuisance we can work in partnership with agencies such as the police, local authority environmental health department, mediation services and social services. On occasions it may be more appropriate for one of these agencies to try resolving a problem, such as:

  • nuisance and dangerous dogs - the local authority and the police
  • litter - the local authority and environmental health
  • abandoned vehicles - local authority and the police
  • malicious phone calls - BT and the police
  • malicious letters - the police

To report an incident to us complete a diary sheet. You can access the form here.
Anti-social behaviour reporting form

Information on Community Safety.