Advice about anti-social behaviour

Keniston supports your right to live peacefully in your home and this requires your neighbours to be considerate to those living nearby. Sometimes your neighbours or their visitors may cause a nuisance to you by their actions.

What is anti-social behaviour?
Anti-social behaviour is defined under the Anti-social Behaviour and Policing Act 2014 as conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person.

Examples of anti-social behaviour includes

  • Intimidation and/or harassment
  • Threatening or aggressive language or conduct
  • Persistent unruly behaviour designed to intimidate others
  • Using your home to conduct unlawful activities
  • Misconduct against persons deemed to belong to another social/cultural group
  • Fly tipping/dumping of unwanted items in public spaces
  • Fouling of public areas of persons or pets

What should you do if you are experiencing anti-social behaviour?

  • Approach your neighbour. If you know who is causing the problem and you feel safe to do so, speak to your neighbour. Explain how what they are doing is affecting you.  They might not be aware of it.
  • Consider whether the behaviour is anti-social. Particularly when living in close proximity to others, sometimes your neighbours may do things that are irritating but it’s not anti-social or it may be a one-off.
  • Keep a record and write down details of any incidents when they occur.

For emergencies that require immediate attention then please phone the police on 999

How do I report anti-social behaviour?
You can report anti-social behaviour in the following ways.

  • By phone
  • By email
  • In person
  • Online

Although you may make reports of anti-social behaviour anonymously, sometimes this can limit the actions we can take.  Please be reassured we will not disclose your identity if you do not want us to.

What happens when a report of anti-social behaviour is made?
When we receive your report, we will agree a course of action with you.  We will work with you to find the best resolution to the problem.  This could be contacting your neighbour to bring their behaviour to their attention.  We will ask you to monitor the behaviour by asking you to complete diary sheets.

What can Keniston do?
Our response to allegations will be proportionate and appropriate.   We believe that in many incidences, anti-social behaviour can be stopped when challenged early enough. Wherever possible we will use non-legal intervention measures.

We aim to stop the problem behaviour and prevent it from re-occurring.  If the case is serious or criminal and other interventions have failed, we may pursue legal action.  Perpetrators can ultimately be evicted for their behaviour.  Where the behaviour is a serious risk to others we will seek an eviction.

We will refer criminal cases to the Police to deal with.

What do I need to do?

What support will I receive?
In all cases we will consider what the support you need and if there are any reasons for considering you are vulnerable.  We will always agree a course of action with you and will not do anything that you do not want us to do.  We will update you throughout the case and keep you informed of progress and any action taken.   We will also work with other agencies if appropriate and, if you wish, refer you to victim support.

Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review (Formerly Community Trigger)

The Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review is a process that allows members of the community to ask the council, police or housing association to deal with persistent anti-social behaviour (ASB). This is also known as the Community Trigger.

You can activate an ASB Case Review if you have reported three separate instances of anti-social behaviour to the council, police, or a housing association in the last six months. The ASB Case Review cannot be used to report new incidents of ASB. The application must be submitted within one month of the last reported incident.

Information you need to provide to activate a Review

If you decide to request an ASB Case Review, you will need to provide the following information:

  • the dates of each time you have made reports of antisocial behaviour in the last six months
  • details of where you reported the ASB incidents (name, organisation, reference numbers)
  • information about the antisocial behaviour that is affecting you

How to Request an ASB Case Review

In order to request the review, you must contact your local authority. Details will be available on their website. If you are unsure of how to do this, please contact us for guidance.