Anti-social behaviour
Nobody should have to suffer from anti-social behaviour (ASB).
If you think you're experiencing ASB where you live, we're here to help.
On this page
- What to consider before reporting ASB
- How do I report anti-social behaviour?
- What happens after I make an ASB report?
- How do we decide which action to take?
- Community Trigger (also known as the ASB Case Review)
Anti-social behaviour: key resources for you
What to consider before reporting ASB
Approaching your neighbour
If you know who’s causing the problem and you feel safe to do so, speak to your neighbour. Explain how their activities or behaviour is affecting you. They might not be aware and likely to appreciate you letting them know. This approach can often help to build and sustain neighbourly relationships. We've put together some tips to help you resolve problems with your neighbours. You can also download our Dear Neighbour card.
Is the behaviour ASB?
Particularly when living in close proximity to our neighbours, sometimes they may do things that irritate us, but think about what they’re actually doing and whether this is anti-social.
Keeping a record
Write down details of the incident(s) when it occurs. When you contact us to report ASB, you’ll be asked for this information as it’ll help us deal with your concerns. Our diary sheets will help you do this.
Anonymous reporting
Although you may make reports of ASB anonymously, sometimes this can limit the actions we can take. Please be reassured we won’t disclose your identity if you don’t want us to.
Who should I tell?
It may also be necessary for you to report the incident to another agency. If the incident is serious or criminal in nature, you should contact the Police. If the incident relates to environmental issues such as pets, noise or rubbish dumping, then you should also report it to your local council offices.
Local Neighbourhood Watch
People join Neighbourhood Watch or Home Watch groups to make the areas where they live safe, friendly and pleasant places to be.
Find out if there’s a local Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area.
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How do I report anti-social behaviour?
Before you make your report, use our anti-social behaviour toolkit to find out what steps you need to take.
If any situation requires immediate attention, please call the Police on 999.
Making an ASB report
Submit your ASB report once you've reviewed the ASB toolkit for information on what is and is not considered antisocial behaviour, and our advice on steps you can take.
What happens after you make an ASB report?
What to expect once you've sent us a report about anti-social behaviour
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What happens after I make an ASB report?
When we receive your report, we’ll contact you to agree the next step.
We’ll try to do this as quickly as possible, but as a minimum this will be within five working days.
We’ll confirm details of your report and agreed steps in writing. We’ll also agree a timescale with you for keeping you informed of progress. This is called a case review date.
All reports will be dealt with promptly and sensitively in line with your views and wishes. However, it’s important to know that reports take time to deal with. We’ll discuss your report with you in confidence and won’t reveal your identity to your neighbour – or anybody else – unless you agree to this being done.
Contacting the person you've reported
In most cases, the first step to take would be for us to contact the person causing you a problem. They’d need to be made aware of their behaviour and the problems that it’s causing so that they have an opportunity to change their behaviour.
After we’ve spoken to them, we’d then monitor the situation to see whether their behaviour has improved or got worse. To do this, we’ll need you to help us by:
- Writing down the dates and times that problems happen.
- Detailing who, what, where and why they are causing problems.
- Telling us how it has affected you and made you feel.
- Letting us know if anyone else has witnessed the problem as well.
Download our anti-social behaviour incident diary.
We'll always be honest with you about your expectations and the likely outcome of your case. It's not always possible for us to fully resolve a problem, especially in situations where either the dispute is personal between individuals or where there is no evidence or any third party/independent witnesses. Our role as your landlord is to be impartial during any investigation and base our actions on the evidence available. Where we're unable to assist further, we will tell you.
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How do we decide what action to take?
We take the following factors into account when considering what our next steps will be:
- The type of behaviour.
- The severity and frequency of incidents.
- The evidence that is available.
- The impact that the behaviour is having.
- Who else is being affected.
- Whether the person/people whose behaviour is causing problems has been given an opportunity to change it (depending on the severity of it) and whether there has been an improvement.
- What other intervention(s) has/have been considered or tried so far.
Legal action is only taken as a last resort and is used for extreme unacceptable behaviour that continues over a period of time.
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Community Trigger (also known as the ASB Case Review)
We know what impact unresolved anti-social behaviour can have on people and the wider community.
A process called the Community Trigger - also known as the ASB Case Review - provides our customers who are victims of ongoing ASB and who've reported the issue to us with the right to request a multi-agency case review where a local threshold is met.
Relevant agencies have a duty to undertake such a review when it's requested.
Each of the geographical areas in which we operate chooses a lead agency to manage the process. This is usually the council or police.
To find out more about the Community Trigger process and how it works, click here.