Preventing Anti Social Behaviour

Our expectations

We expect all tenants and residents will conduct themselves in a responsible, respectful and neighbourly manner. You are responsible for your children and any visitors to your home and they should conduct themselves in the same manner.

How can you prevent ASB?

To try and “nip problems in the bud” it is often best for residents to take reasonable steps themselves to initially deal with any issues. Often a friendly chat between neighbours can be the quickest, easiest way to resolve matters and avoid any bad feeling between the parties for having involved other agencies. Often in cases of residents causing a nuisance or annoyance to the neighbours or other local residents theey haven’t been aware that there behaviour has caused a problem as what may cause a nuisance to one person may not to another, the easiest way to solve this is by speaking to your neighbour and explaining how their behaviour is affecting you.

How you can be a good neighbour

• Be considerate of our neighbours
• Try to keep noise down, especially between the hours of 11.00pm and 7.00am
• Don’t dump rubbish or unwanted items in your garden, communal areas or in the street. It looks unsightly and may cause a hazard to others.

Some Useful Do’s

• Do try to remain calm
• Do explain why the behaviour is upsetting you
• Do think through what you want to say first
• Do try to adopt a friendly manner
• Friendly neighbours are naturally more respectful
• Do show respect for others in the community
• Do listen to what others have to say and think about it – they may have a point
• Do contact the relevant authorities if the problem persists or immediate intervention is required.
• Do try to be more tolerant; children need to play.

Some Useful Dont's

• Don’t try to resolve problems with threats this will only make the problem worse
• Don’t lose your temper, this will make things worse
• Don’t get involved in arguments – walk away
• Don’t get into tit-for-tat situations as this could escalate the problems and may lead to both parties being prosecuted
• Don’t let the situation intensify – if you have tried to solve the problem amicably but the problem persists, contact the Anti-Social Behaviour Officer(s)
• Don’t look the other way, if a neighbour is having problems, any witnesses can provide valuable information

What can we do?

We can use the following options (depending on the case) to tackle anti-social behaviour:

• Visits
• Warning letters
• Acceptable Behaviour Contract
• Unaccpetable behaviour Notices
• Good Neighbour Agreements
• Anti-Social Behaviour Orders
• Injunctions
• Demotion of tenancy – Council tenants only
• Notice to seek possession – Council tenants only