What can we do to help?
Often in cases of minor anti-social behaviour, such as doors slamming or inconsiderate parking, a friendly chat is all that is needed. It may be that your neighbour does not realise they are disturbing you or that there is a problem, and as a result we ask that you first make every effort to sort the matter out directly with them. To help maintain neighbour relations, approach the person in the way you would appreciate being approached if someone had a problem with something you were doing. Whatever the situation, please continue to act in a reasonable manner, and remember we are only a phone call away if you need any help.
Please remember that people sometimes have different lifestyles and try to respect the lifestyle of your neighbour even if it differs from your own. Where complaints arise from a clash of lifestyles, we may not be able to take any action.
Information in this section below includes:
How can we work together to address anti-social behaviour?
What if the situation continues?
How we can work together to address anti-social behaviour?
When we receive a report of anti-social behaviour we record it and give it a reference number so that if you need to contact us again we will have the details to hand. We will write to you to acknowledge your report within two working days of receiving it.
Any information you give us will be dealt with sensitively and confidentially, and that we will agree any action we will take with you beforehand, unless we cannot due to data protection requirements. We may want to discuss the matter further with you and arrange an appointment for a private and confidential interview
We will usually need to speak to the other person/people concerned to hear their version of the event. Where there has been a breach of tenancy, we will remind the tenant of their obligations and what will happen if the behaviour continues.
We are obliged to take account of all the complaints made and, if there are counter allegations, we need to treat all complaints equally. Evidence to support allegations is therefore essential.
Keeping records of incidents
We may ask you to complete diary sheets. Diary sheets are important because they provide an accurate record of the nuisance that is taking place and show how often it is happening and how serious it is. This information is often needed to make sure that we can take the most appropriate action. Once the diary sheets have been returned, we will agree a course of action with you. This may involve you committing to do something, as well as us taking action. We will review the case with you regularly as long as the case remains open.
The information you should record on log sheets includes;
- Dates and times of incidents
- As much detail as possible about the incident
- Names and/or descriptions of those involved
- Details of any witnesses
- How the incident has affected you
Involving other agencies
We may also involve, or ask you to involve, other agencies such as the police, environmental health and social services.
Mediation
Wherever possible we will try to resolve the problem informally and support the people involved in order that they can try to solve their differences themselves. One of the options that we encourage people to use is mediation where an independent third party (the mediator) aims to assist two or more parties in reaching an agreement. We are happy to arrange mediation where appropriate. The service is completely confidential and free to participating residents when organised through us.
What if the situation continues?
We will consider taking legal action if necessary. This can be a long process and will normally require detailed and high-quality evidence from you, the police or other witnesses, to give us the best possible chance of success. We will do all we can to investigate a complaint and gather evidence, but we can only take legal action when there is enough proof.
In the most serious cases, and where we can get strong enough evidence, we will consider the following actions;
- Issuing an Acceptable Behaviour Contract/Agreement (ABC/ABA)
- Applying to the Court for an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)
- Applying for an injunction (a court order requiring the activity to stop)
- Asking the Court to demote a tenancy (the tenant will be put back on a starter tenancy and will lose certain rights)
In extreme cases we will consider taking the steps necessary to evict a tenant.
What we will not do
We will not be able to take action against a tenant where we do not have sufficient proof.
Closing the case
After we have completed our investigations and done whatever we can do to resolve any anti social behaviour, we will write to you to let you know we are closing the case and check that you are happy with the outcome. We will also ask you to complete a survey for us. This is so we can see how well we are tackling anti social behaviour and what improvements we can make.
If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your report of anti-social behaviour or if you feel that we have not followed our procedure, you can make an official complaint which will be considered in line with our complaints procedure.
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