Anti-Social Behaviour

Tackling Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour comes in many different forms. It ranges from serious acts of violence and harassment, to ‘every day’ incidents like noisy dogs or overgrown gardens. Whatever the problem, we take all complaints seriously. We will act quickly to stop anti-social behaviour.

The tenancy agreement – the legal contract between us and our tenants – says the tenant is responsible for their own behaviour and the behaviour of anyone living with them or visiting them. That means we can take action, not only when a neighbouring tenant is acting anti-socially, but if their children or visitors are causing you problems.

Sometimes we can take action against troublemakers even if they have no connection with a tenant. This is as long as the anti-social behaviour happened in an area of our housing.

Letting us know

The easiest way to tell us about anti-social behaviour is to put the information in writing. However, a telephone call will do.

Alternatively, you can ask a friend, relative or your local Councillor to report the problem for you. We will write to you to confirm that we are investigating the situation using the information you have given us, or visit you at your home.

The first steps

If the problem is straightforward, we may be able to sort it out easily. For example, if you tell us about an untidy garden or noisy neighbours we can go round and check. We will tell the other person about the problem they are causing and will take action if they do not change their behaviour.

However, most cases aren’t quite so simple. If the anti-social behaviour is not obvious to everyone, or if it’s aimed directly at you – harassment and abuse for example – we will need to talk to you before we can start an investigation.

The next stage

In most cases we will need to meet you to talk about the problem. We can do this wherever it suits you – at home, at our offices or somewhere else. In serious cases we’ll aim to meet you within 24 hours.
We’ll ask you questions to help us fully understand the problem: who is affected; how they are affected; where it happens; and why you think the person is acting anti-socially. We will want to speak to other people in your household who have been affected too.

The action plan

At the end of our meeting we’ll agree a plan that describes what you should do and what we will do to get the problem sorted out. It’s called the ‘action plan’. We will confirm in writing what we have agreed. What we have now is a partnership between us. We are working for you, but you must help us by keeping to your side of the action plan.

Talking it through

If the case you have presented us with does not involve threats, violence or harassment, the plan could start with a suggestion that you talk the problem through with the other person. There’s a better chance of solving a dispute if you try to see each other’s point of view. It may be that a neighbour doesn’t know that their behaviour is upsetting you.

As a good neighbour you should be reasonably understanding of the different lifestyles of others. For example, although you are not expected to accept regular noisy parties, we would encourage you to tolerate a one-off event, especially if you are warned about it first.

If the other person is unreasonable we would recommend you walk away as it is not in the interest of either party to get involved in an argument.

Gathering evidence

We can’t take action against someone simply because another person has complained about them – we need evidence. The most important evidence is the incident diary – a form we give you to record any incidents you see or hear. You can get these by contacting our office or by clicking on the link below. Your Neighbourhood Manager will explain how to fill it in.

We may need to collect other evidence, like photographs, video or tape recordings of the incidents happening. We may be able to do this ourselves, but if the incident happens suddenly it may be better for you to do it as well.

We may have to speak to other people who have witnessed the problem – your neighbours for instance. It could be difficult to take the case further without these witnesses. Your neighbours could fill in their own incident diaries to support your case.

Taking action

When we have collected evidence we’ll decide if the other person – who is called the perpetrator – has a case to answer. If so, we will take action. In the very serious cases – where the perpetrator has put you or another person in danger – we’ll go straight to legal action. In other situations we’ll take a step-by-step approach to try to get them to change their behaviour.

We will need to interview the perpetrator. (You could ask us not to do this – but it could then be difficult to take the case further). We’ll tell them to change their behaviour and warn them that we will act firmly if they don’t. If necessary we will take legal action against them.

The process described here is usually enough to solve most problems. But if anti-social behaviour continues after a final warning – or if the perpetrator has put someone in danger – we’ll start legal action straight away. We would give you more advice and information if a case went that far.

You can report cases of anti-social behaviour by sending an email to: ASBincidents@coastlinehousing.co.uk