Antisocial behaviour and tenancy breaches

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) can make you, your family, and the wider community feel unsafe, annoyed or distressed.

It includes:

• noise nuisance;
• verbally abusive or threatening behaviour;
• intimidation or harassment based on age, gender, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status;
• physical violence;
• vehicle-related nuisance;
• damage to property;
• drug and alcohol related antisocial behaviour;
• nuisance from pets and animals;
• fly-tipping;
• untidy and/or overgrown gardens;
• and using our property for illegal purposes such as drug dealing and prostitution.

It can also include domestic violence and abuse. If your partner, relative, or other person you live with is being violent towards you, click here for more information on what to do.

What is not ASB?

We do not consider everything reported to us as ASB. For example: babies crying; children playing; using a washing machine/tumble dryer or vacuum cleaner in the day; cooking smells; loud talking/laughing; the noise somebody makes when moving into or out of their property; cultural differences; disputes between children; and one-off events, such as a birthday party.

In these cases, we will give advice and guidance so the people involved can resolve the situation themselves. We consider these to be lifestyle differences or everyday living noises.

What can I do if I am a victim of ASB?

Before reporting ASB – and only if you feel it is safe to do so – you should try talking to the person causing the problem because they may not realise they are causing a nuisance. This can often stop the problem straight away. If the problem affects other neighbours, you may want to involve them as well. It can be easier to settle a dispute if the complaint comes from a number of people.

To report ASB, please contact us.

If the person causing the problem is not a GreenSquare customer, we will have fewer powers to deal with them. In such cases, we can direct you to the agency that can help – this may be your local council. We will work in partnership with the agency to stop the nuisance.

Noise disturbance

We recognise noise disturbance can take place at any time of the day or night and on any day of the week. This is why we have subscribed to The Noise App - a free app which lets anyone with a smartphone record noise that is causing a disturbance and then send it directly to us which helps with our investigation. Find out more here.

What we will do:

• We will listen to you and take your complaint of ASB seriously and deal with it in confidence.
• We will be clear about what we can do to help.
• We will advise you to contact the police if the problem is to do with crime or violence.
• We will advise you to contact your local council’s environmental health team for noise nuisance involving loud music, nuisance from animals or machinery.
• We will support you while we investigate. For example, we may provide you with extra security.
• We will agree an action plan with you.
• We will ask you to monitor the ASB providing details including dates and times.
• We will keep you informed of any progress.
• We will work in partnership with other agencies such as the police and local council to stop the ASB as quickly as possible.
• We will contact the person(s) causing the ASB to tell them what they are doing is wrong and work with them so that they stop.
• If necessary and reasonable, we will take formal action through the courts if the ASB does not stop.

How quickly will we deal with the problem?

This depends on how serious the ASB is. We will respond to complaints as follows:

• We will respond to ASB where there has been violence or the threat of violence within 24 hours.
• We will respond to ASB such as fly-tipping, noise nuisance or unreasonable behaviour within 5 working days.
• We will respond to issues such as dog nuisance, inconsiderate parking, and problems with gardens within 10 working days.

Keeping you informed

Tackling ASB is a priority for us, and in doing this we will often work with other agencies. These include the police, local councils and other housing associations. Find out more about tools we may use to tackle ASB here.

We will tell you and your neighbour what is happening with your case at each step of the complaint. If you are not happy with the action we are taking, please get in touch with Anna Kelly, tenancy enforcement manager. If you are still not happy, you can ask to use our complaints procedure or contact your local authority to activate the Community Trigger.