We’re committed to providing safe, quality homes and communities.

All residents are expected to behave respectfully under the terms of your tenancy or lease agreements.  This includes showing consideration for your neighbours and community, along with respecting other people’s rights and lifestyle.

What is anti-social behaviour (ASB)?

Antisocial behaviour is defined as 'behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person.'  

Tackling ASB

It’s vital that we work together to keep your home and community a safe and comfortable place to be.  We’re committed to reducing anti-social behaviour and take all reports of ASB seriously. However, we encourage you, where appropriate, to discuss the incident with the person you consider having caused the problem to try and resolve the issue informally.

We’ve found that an effective approach to anti-social behaviour is one of prevention.  We work to promote unity in our communities including:

  • Good Neighbour Agreements - All new tenants are asked to sign a ‘good neighbour agreement’ so that you understand what is considered anti-social behaviour and your role in prevention.
  • Probationary Tenancies - We start all new tenants on one year starter tenancies. During this period, we’ll visit every three months to ensure that you’re able to manage your tenancy and can access any support you need.
  • Community Cohesion - Our teams work closely with local communities to deal with anti-social behaviour and support friendly communities.
  • Mediation – we might ask specialists to help resolve issues between neighbours through mediation.

Where incidents cannot be resolved informally, we ask that you work closely with our specialist ASB team.  You can contact them via email asb@housingsolutions.co.uk 

We have a dedicated ASB Team who are committed to tackling anti-social behaviour.  We work closely with partner agencies, such as the Police and other bodies to tackle crime and ASB. 

If you’re ever threatened or feel your safety or well being is at risk you should call the police on 999 before reporting it to Housing Solutions as a matter of urgency. All complaints in regards to anti social behaviour will be managed in line with the anti social behaviour complaint handling service standards.  We always treat all contact details confidentially, your details (as the complainant) are not made known to the person(s) causing the ASB.

Our approach to ASB is based on the type and seriousness – we’ve set out more information about this below:

Category

Response time

ASB incident type

(1)   Personal

We’ll generally call you within a day of any issues being reported to us.

Where a person is a direct target of anti-social behaviour. This could also be a criminal offence such as :

·       Hate Crime

·       Domestic abuse

·       Physical violence / threats of violence

·       Harassment or intimidation

·       Cuckooing - it is a practice where people take over a person’s home and use the property for some form of exploitation

·       Criminal damage e.g., arson

·       Using aggressive animals to intimidate people

(2)   General nuisance

Our ASB Officers will give you a call back within 2 working days of you making an initial report

These are incidents that affect one or more individuals but are not directly targeted at any person or group.  There is no recognised immediate risk to anyone. This includes, but is not limited to:

·       Vandalism

·       Drug misuse (in communal areas)

·       Drug dealing & supply

·       Serious or sustained noise nuisance

·       Sustained animal related nuisance

·       Prostitution & sexual activity

·       Unlawful behaviour

·       Sustained breaches of tenancy related to ASB

 

(3)    Environmental

Your Housing Officer will give you a call back within 2 working days of you making an initial report

These are incidents where the perpetrator(s) behaviour affects the quality of life of the local community and/or victim(s) indirectly.  These may also include failing to respect parts of your tenancy agreement.  This includes, but is not limited to:

·       Noise

·       Untidy gardens

·       Storing items in communal areas

·       Animal nuisance

·       Running a business without permission

·       CCTV nuisance

·       Littering / fly tipping

·       Parking disputes

·       Carrying out long term car repairs

·       Abandoned vehicles

All complaints will be managed in line with the anti-social behaviour complaint handling service standards.  We always treat all contact details confidentially.