Anti-Social Behaviour

Definition

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

Anti-Social Behaviour is defined by Section 2(1) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime & Policing Act 2014 as:

(a) conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person,

(b) conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises, or

(c) conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person.

For possession proceedings, the grounds for possession define ASB as:

Where the tenant or a person residing or visiting the property (a) “has been guilty of conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to a person residing, visiting or otherwise engaging in a lawful activity in the locality, or (b) has been convicted of – using the dwelling-house or allowing it to be used for immoral or illegal purposes, or an indictable offence committed in, or in the locality of, the dwelling-house”.

What happens when you report ASB to us

We all have the right to live in a safe and pleasant neighbourhood. That’s why we take ASB seriously. We aim to respond to reports of ASB within five working days when our threshold is met or, for urgent cases, within 24 hours. Remember, if you feel that you’re at immediate risk, or you are reporting a criminal offence, please contact the police by dialling 999.

How you can help

Most problems between neighbours can be sorted out privately, before you make a formal complaint. Where appropriate, you can try to resolve the issue by talking to them in the first instance. The ASB Help website has lots of useful suggestions on how to do this. If this isn’t possible or doesn’t work, please report the behaviour to us. Don’t put yourself at risk.

Other agencies that can help

There are a number of different agencies involved in tackling Anti-Social behaviour, including:

How to report ASB to us

You can report ASB online by completing our online form

You can also report ASB via one of the following mechanisms:

  • e-mail: housing@tuntum.co.uk
  • talking directly to staff members
  • written correspondence
  • telephone on 0115 916 6066
  • through a third party ( e.g. Councillor, friend or relative)

Before you contact us:

How we tackle ASB

Crime

We will work with the police on a collaborative basis to tackle criminal activity in our neighborhoods; we will take action to enforce tenancy conditions and refer victims to relevant support agencies, while the Police investigate the criminal behaviour and bring charges against the perpetrator. We will not generally lead on resolving such incidents, but in some serious cases if it is appropriate to do so, we will explore our options for taking our own legal action such as a without notice injunction.

Noise

We will investigate cases within 5 working days when our threshold is met. We will initially encourage customers to try to resolve noise nuisance from neighbours between themselves and advise customer to report excessive noise to their local council’s environmental health team. We will try to work with the local environmental health service who have statutory powers to tackle noise nuisance and serve abatement notices on those responsible for the noise.

Other forms of ASB

Tuntum recognises the important role mediation and/or restorative justice can have in addressing ASB & Harassment.  These services will be offered where this is deemed appropriate and where mutual agreement is reached.

Use of starter tenancies and other measure which include acceptable behaviour contracts, verbal and written warnings, injunctions and possession proceedings.

We may share information with other statutory agencies such as the local authority, police social care or other housing associations. In order to take a multi agency approach to tackling ASB in our communities.

Anti-Social Behaviour and Harassment Policy.pdf