Anti Social Behaviour and Hate Crime
Antisocial behaviour is a serious issue that can cause great distress. Wandle will not tolerate any kind of antisocial behaviour and will tackle it urgently.
You can report antisocial behaviour by:
Wandle supports the Government’s Respect Agenda and is committed to:
- involving local people in setting and enforcing standards
- rewarding people who respect their neighbourhoods and community
- handling complaints quickly and sensitively
- protecting complainants and witnesses
- taking prompt decisive action to stop problems before they get worse
- publicising our campaign against antisocial behaviour to give people the confidence to join it
- providing support to tackle the causes of antisocial behaviour and help people get their lives back on track
- helping prevent antisocial behaviour – for example by organising other activities for young people and designing secure, well-lit estates where it’s more difficult to commit crime
For more information about the Government’s Respect Agenda see www.respect.gov.uk.
Click to read more about how we can help with:
Antisocial behaviour
Antisocial behaviour (ASB) can take many forms, including noise, rubbish, threats, verbal abuse, visitors and nuisance caused by drug and alcohol misuse. It can also be a breach of our tenancy agreement.
Dealing with ASB
- If a neighbour is causing ASB, try talking to them calmly and ask them to stop
- If they don’t stop, contact Customer Services, who will log the complaint and send you a ‘nuisance pack’ with information and an incident diary to fill in. They’ll also let your housing officer know about the problem
- We will interview you, your neighbour and other witnesses and try to sort out the problem
- If serious problems continue, we will take further action, which may include going to court
- You’ll find more information on how we handle ASB in the Residents Charter
We also:
- Work with other agencies, such as the police, local councils, youth offending team, social services, GPs and health visitors to prevent antisocial behaviour on our estates and to help people change their behaviour
- Make sure new estates and homes are designed to prevent anti-social behaviour, and making changes on existing estates which lessen the chances of antisocial behaviour happening
If we go to court, you and any other witnesses may be asked to give evidence. We will need evidence to act against antisocial behaviour. Please keep a record of incidents in the diary we send you.
Noise nuisance
If you are troubled by too much noise, you may complain to:
- your Housing Officer
- your local council's Environmental Health Department
We investigate all complaints and will take court action where we have enough evidence. Persistent offenders risk eviction. The Environmental Health Department may also impose a heavy fine or take away equipment.
Actions we can take
Action we can take against ASB include:
- Contact with the alleged offender. This can include face-to-face interviews, telephone calls and letters
- Professional mediation. This enables residents to talk to an independent and impartial mediator in a safe environment, with or without the other person present, to reach a workable solution to a dispute
- Injunctions (including emergency injunctions to protect witnesses).Injunctions are court orders that tell people to stop behaving in a certain way, with penalties if they ignore them
- Antisocial Behaviour Order (ASBO). ASBOs are civil court orders that can be used on anyone over 10 – they last for at least two years and breaking the terms of an ASBO is a criminal offence. We usually apply for ASBOs in conjunction with the police and local authority
- Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC). These are written assurances signed by a young person and/or their parents, or an adult causing nuisance, that they will change their behaviour and stop the nuisance. Breaching an ABC is not a criminal offence, but could lead to more serious action, such as an ASBO, being taken
- Possession action that could lead to eviction. A court order that can be suspended (giving a resident another chance to remain in their home as long as the antisocial behaviour stops) or outright eviction (ordering a resident to leave their home immediately)
- Demoted tenancy. A court order reduces a resident’s security of tenure and rights as a tenant because of their antisocial behaviour. Their tenancy can be reinstated if their behaviour improves, but if it doesn’t they could be evicted
- Closure Order. An order that the police apply for to close down a property where class A drugs are being sold, used or produced
back to top
