Supporting Anti-Social Behaviour Week
We are proud to support ASB (anti-social behaviour) Awareness Week; bringing together people and organisations from across the country to take a stand against anti-social behaviour and make communities safer.
Running from 18th to 24th July, ASB Awareness Week aims to encourage communities to take a stand against ASB and highlight the options available to those facing it.
The week of action is bringing together people and organisations from across the country to take a stand and work together to make communities safer.
Organised by community safety specialists Resolve, ASB Awareness Week is being backed by the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Local Government Association (LGA), National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the National Fire Chiefs’ Council (NFCC).
If you are experiencing ASB please report it to us here, by emailing us or calling 01452 424344. However, if you are in immediate need of assistance, or if a crime is in progress, then phone 999.
To report to the police please phone 101 (non-emergency number) or report to the Police online. If you wish to report crime anonymously then you can report through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or report online.
If you do make a report to the Police, please let GCH know that this has happened along with any incident/crime numbers.
Which agency is responsible for my ASB report?
GCH
As a landlord, we tackle anti-social behaviour that is a breach of tenancy. This includes things like:
- Noise nuisance
- Fly-tipping
- Verbal abuse
The Police
The police investigate criminal offences. Following on from these investigations, if they are proven, it may be that this proves a breach of tenancy and then we, as the landlord, may be able to deal with this.
Things that are criminal offences and therefore should be reported to the police first include:
- Drugs – taking of or suspicions of drug dealing
- Assault
The Local Authority (Council)
The Council has an Environmental Health Team who investigate serious noise nuisance and fly-tipping. They have the power to prosecute or confiscate equipment. Following on from these investigations, if they are proven, it may be that the proves a breach of tenancy and then we, as the landlord, may be able to deal with this.
GCH will work in partnership with these agencies to assist in their investigations and provide advice and support to complainants.
Our key priority is always to try and resolve or stop the anti-social behaviour happening. Evictions are very rare and always a last resort.
The Community Trigger
You may feel like you have nowhere to turn for help. You may have reported the anti-social behaviour but no-one seems to be doing anything and no-one is listening but the anti-social behaviour is continuing. The Community Trigger has been designed for you.
If you (or others with your consent) have reported 3 incidents (or more) within a 6 month period you can activate the Community Trigger (also known as ASB Case Review) through your Local Authority. This has been designed to give you, the victim, the right to demand that agencies deal with persistent anti-social behaviour.
Recent ASB cases we have dealt with
At GCH, your Neighbourhood Managers deal with low level ASB and tenancy breaches. We also have two Community Safety and Enforcement Managers who address serious anti-social behaviour, managing safeguarding cases and tenancy breaches. Here is some of the cases they have been working on recently to give you an idea about what they get up to;
One of our Neighbourhood Managers identified a case of subletting whilst door knocking regarding access for an electrical test. The resident, Miss A, advised that she had been paying her rent of £500 cash per month for at least 6 months, to a male who advised that he was the landlord. Conversations with Miss A revealed that the real tenant had moved to France, leaving a friend in charge of collecting the rent. She had been led to believe the home was a private rental. Subletting is illegal as it is a way of making a profit from low-cost social housing that is in demand by so many people in need of an affordable home.
Our Neighbourhood Manager and Community Safety & Enforcement Manager worked with Miss A to gather evidence however the actual tenant found out about this and threatened Miss A therefore our team had to help the family access emergency accommodation as she felt unsafe. Once our Officers sourced emergency accommodation they helped Miss A to pack up essentials and arranged transport for her family to get there.
Once the family were safe, our Neighbourhood Manager and Community Safety & Enforcement Manager requested a lock change to ensure that the real tenants friend could no longer access the property and served an legal ‘notice to quit’ to get the property back so we can let it to someone in need who has been waiting for social housing.
This is a great example of the patch team working together to ensure that Miss A and her children were no longer at risk, remaining with the family on site for over 6 hours. They overcame barriers with the Council to ensure that emergency accommodation was provided and also that the property was secured. Ideally GCH would have liked to pursue legal action for the tenancy fraud however due to not knowing the whereabouts of the tenant, it was not possible.
Tenant, Mr E, had been holding his partner Miss B, and her children, captive in their home therefore she planned to escape from him. Social Care were helping Miss B and her children to escape however Mr E caught his partner attempting to collect items from a neighbour’s house and get into a taxi. The Police moved Miss B and her children to safety.
Following this there were ongoing threats from Mr E to the neighbour, Miss K, and she left her property due to feeling unsafe.
Our Neighbourhood Team sought temporary accommodation through the council for Miss K, as she feared for her life and that of her family, which was not easy however our Neighbourhood Manager and Community Safety & Enforcement Manager worked with the local PSCO to challenge the decision and gain Miss K temporary accommodation.
Once the immediate risk had been removed and both Miss B and her children and her neighbour Miss K and family were safe, we started working to pursue action against Mr E.
Cases like this are complex and our Officers have to identify the best way of resolving high-risk issues and ensuring that the victims have somewhere to safely live. Access to emergency accommodation is very challenging as there is not much availability however our team have to prioritise the safety of residents. At GCH we do not condone Mr E’s type of behaviour, which breaks our tenancy agreement and will take action against those who act in such a manner.
Numerous complaints were made to GCH concerning the behaviour of a tenant, Mr H, in the Podsmead area.
Complaints were initially in relation to noise nuisance, but the behaviour of Mr H soon escalated into serious incidents and this was having a detrimental effect on the community. The incidents included assault, intimidation, threats, racial abuse, domestic abuse, criminal damage & drug cultivation.
Early intervention methods such as home visits and tenancy warning letters had no impact on Mr H’s continued behaviour and an early decision was made to apply to the country court for an Injunction Order. This was granted by the District Judge with a power of arrest attached to the Injunction should the order be breached.
Mr H went on to breach the injunction on 10 occasions and was arrested by police which saw him serve a custodial sentence of 12 weeks.
Breaching the Injunction Order allowed GCH to progress with possession proceedings against Mr H using Ground 7a. This is an absolute ground for possession where the presiding Judge has little discretion in how the hearing progresses with the likely outcome being eviction.
Mr H appealed the 7a application, but this was not upheld and he was later evicted from the property.
GCH work closely with perpetrators of ASB to change behaviours and will work alongside partner organisations and support groups to achieve this. However, in this instance, the events were frequent and severe and so legal action was the most appropriate.