Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

If a resident is assaulted or is threatened with violence, or if our resident assaults or threatens to assault another person within the locality of the home, in the first instance we will ask the victim to contact the police on 999/101. The victim should confirm the collar number of the police officer that deals with the case, so that we can contact them for further information/updates. We will work closely with the police.

If a resident or a member of their household is suffering from Domestic Abuse/Violence we will try to help you. A member of the Lettings and Neighbourhoods Team will be happy to discuss your options.

Domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.

We may ask  the victim to consider contacting the police/be supported by victim support services (either national or local agencies). We would work with MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) where agencies and police risk assess domestic abuse victims and attempt to offer support to keep them safe safelives.org.uk.

Help for Victims

One of our team would be happy to have a confidential chat with you to discuss how we can help.

Alternatively, there is National domestic violence helpline - 0808 2000 247. The freephone 24 hour national domestic violence helpline, run in partnership between Women's Aid and Refuge, is a national service for women experiencing domestic violence, their family, friends, colleagues and others calling on their behalf. The helpline is staffed 24 hours a day by fully trained female workers and volunteers. All calls are completely confidential. The service offers translation facilities for callers whose first language is not English, and a service for callers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Men’s advice line - 0808 801 0327, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. A freephone confidential helpline for men experiencing domestic violence from a partner or ex-partner, or from other family members.

Hate crime involves any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a personal characteristic. This does not mean that crimes motivated by hostility or hatred of other characteristics, such as gender, age or appearance cannot happen.

A hate incident is - ‘Any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.’ In the first instance, we would be asking the victim to contact the police on 999/101, and asking that the victim establishes the collar number of the police officer that deals with the case, so that we can contact them for further information / updates. We would work closely with the police.

Noise nuisance: A serious noise nuisance is loud and persistent. We will ask the complainant to keep a nuisance diary/log for 2 weeks, and then reviewing the information in the diary.  For the 1^st complaint, we will issue the diary, ask the complainants to contact us when they have recorded a pattern of behaviour and would be closing the case until the complainant re-contacted with the evidence as requested. Complainants need to understand that we cannot deal with general household noise as a nuisance, and therefore we cannot assist with lifestyle clashes, children playing, walking across flooring or doors being opened or closed in flats/ HMOs maisonettes, noises of plugs being put in sockets, general noise from a TV/music through the day if it is not audible from the outside of the property.

Damage to our Property is a criminal offence and as such needs to be reported to the police on 999/101 (depending on the situation and if the offence was in progress, for example at the time of the call). If the resident has made the report to the police then we need to obtain the officer’s collar number or police log number or crime reference number if available. We would be asking the victim to make a statement in consideration for legal action by Housing. We would work with Children’s Services or Youth offending panels if the victim or perpetrator was a child or young person, and can consider the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts if necessary (a non-legal agreement).

Targeted nuisance is where there is a pattern of behaviour with the intention to cause nuisance and annoyance to a specific person(s). We would ask the victim to report the pattern of behaviour to the police on 101/999 depending on the severity. We would need the details of the complainant and perpetrator, and would need to be told any possible reasons why there is a dispute going on. We would offer signposted support to the victim and where there is a high risk to their welfare, we would consider proportionate tenancy enforcement action where those responsible are YHG tenants or household members.

Selling or supplying drugs is a criminal offence and where there is evidence of this activity, this should be reported to the police via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org These agencies will take anonymous caller information, but by remaining anonymous, this may reduce the ‘grading’ of intelligence. By reporting your name to them, you can ask them to withhold your information to any third party. We would be asking the witness to make a statement in consideration for legal action by Housing, We would work with Children’s Services or Youth offending panels if the victim or perpetrator was a child or young person, and can consider the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts if necessary (a non-legal agreement). 

Graffiti: We will ensure that attempts are made to remove the graffiti as soon as possible and where there are offensive words or pictures within 24 hours of the report. If the damage causes a risk to another person’s health, safety or well-being (for example a smashed window), we would secure the property via an emergency job, and recharge the tenant according to the Rechargeable Repairs Policy and Procedure.

Dog straying and fouling is to be reported to the Local Authority. If you do not know who your Local Authority is, you can look up your postcode on gov.uk/report-noise-pollution-to-council The Local Authority deal with these issues under the Cleaner Neighbours and Environment Act 2005.

Dog noise will be dealt with depending severity. If the dog barks only when someone is around/attends the property – this is not dog noise nuisance. If the dog is barking continuously, repeatedly, when the owner is out, for no reason etc, we will send nuisance diaries out for assessment to establish a pattern of behaviour. We will assess the diaries after 2 weeks and will make an assessment of need based on these records.

Children playing is not anti-social behaviour unless there is actual damage or serious noise nuisance. Children have a right to play time, and it would be better to try to speak to the parents of the children if there is a justified reason (i.e their safety) for not playing in the immediate area. We would ask complainants to speak to their neighbours, and remember to stay calm, and politely explain how their children are impacting on their life. They may suggest ways to compromise.

One off noise /verbal arguments or nuisance. We don’t all get on with our neighbours all of the time, and would ask neighbours to speak to one another amicably, and not take a hostile approach. Our advice would be politely explain how the issue is impacting on your life to your neighbours and suggest ways you might both be able to compromise. It’s important complainants contact their neighbours about the noise before getting the authorities involved, because this will show you’ve tried to resolve the situation yourself first.

Please report to the Police on 101 / the Local Authority / property owner.

One off noise /verbal arguments or nuisance. We don’t all get on with our neighbours all of the time, and would ask neighbours to speak to one another amicably, and not take a hostile approach. Our advice would be politely explain how the issue is impacting on your life to your neighbours and suggest ways you might both be able to compromise. It’s important complainants contact their neighbours about the noise before getting the authorities involved, because this will show you’ve tried to resolve the situation yourself first.

Boundary disputes intervention would be to clarify what our deeds show our land boundaries to be, and we would not intervene on any further disputes.

Parking issues on our land would be dealt with as an enquiry to the Association, and no unauthorised or un-roadworthy (no valid tax, MOT certificate, no insurance) vehicle should be parked on our land. You are not allowed to SORN a vehicle to our land. This will be dealt with by the Association as a breach of tenancy. Parking issues on a Highway are dealt with by the Local Authority. For Potholes / lighting / road problems please contact the Highways Agency.

These issues are licensing issues; please contact the Police via 101 or Local Authority licensing team.

We need to know your name and address to check the integrity of the information and to prevent malicious complaints. We will not disclose your name to the other party without your permission. In some cases it may be obvious to the alleged perpetrator where the complaint has come from. Your allocated Officer will discuss this with you if they think this may happen in your case to help you to make informed decisions.

Where a report of ASB is made anonymously no action will be taken, however the information relating to the incident will be recorded and may be used as hearsay evidence should information be received on the same issue from other complainants.