A Guide to Anti-Social Behaviour

This is criminal behaviour and needs to be reported to the police on 101 or 999, depending on the level of risk.  

If a tenant is assaulted, or is threatened with violence, we would be asking the victim to contact the police.  We would work closely with the police and it is essential that the victim establishes the collar number of the police officer that deals with the case so that we can contact them for further information / updates.

If one of our tenant assaults or threatens to assault another person within the locality of the home, we would be asking the victim to make a Statement to consider legal action by the Association.

If the responsible person is a tenant of the Association and convicted of the crime, tenancy enforcement action is likely to be taken.

Useful links for support and /or advise

• https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
• https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/
• https://galop.org.uk/

If a tenant or a member of their household is suffering from Domestic Abuse or Violence one of our Housing Service Officers will be happy to help you understand what options are available to you.

Domestic abuse is any incident or a pattern of incidents where the use of controlling, coercive, threatening or violent behaviour takes place between those who have been intimate partners or family members aged 16 or over.   Domestic abuse can affect both men and women no matter of their age and sexuality.   This can include but is not limited to, the following types of abuse: 

Psychological abuse: Often referred to as emotional abuse, is where a person is subjecting or exposing another person to behaviour that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Physical abuse: This is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact.  Alternative terms sometimes used include physical assault or physical violence, and may also include sexual abuse

Sexual abuse: “Sexual assault is a sexual act, with or without physical contact, committed by an individual without the consent of the victim or, in some cases, and especially when children are involved, through emotional manipulation or blackmail.  It is an act that subjects another person to the perpetrator’s desires through an abuse of power, the use of force or coercion, or implicit or explicit threats regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.  Certain other terms are also used to refer to sexual assault, including “rape,” sexual abuse,” “sexual offence,” “sexual contact,” “incest,” “prostitution” and “child pornography.”

Financial abuse: This involves controlling a victim's ability to acquire, use or maintain financial resources. Those who are victimised financially may be prevented from working. They also may have their own money restricted or stolen by the abuser.  Rarely do they have complete access to money and other resources.

Controlling behaviour: A range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive behaviour:  It's defined as controlling behaviour that has a "serious effect" on a partner causing them to fear violence. at least twice, or causing them serious distress.  The behaviour includes but not limited to humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.  It includes forced marriage and so-called ‘honour-based violence’.  Coercive control makes up a large proportion of domestic abuse and is considered to be an important risk factor for domestic homicide. Coercive control is an offence in the new Serious Crime Act 2015.

Forced Marriage: In forced marriage, one or both spouses do not consent to the marriage and some element of duress is involved.  Duress includes both physical and emotional pressure and abuse.  Forced marriage is primarily, but not exclusively, an issue of violence against females.  We would refer this matter to the police and the national Forced Marriage Unit. Telephone: 020 7008 0151, Email: fmu@fco.gov.uk  or information can be found on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#forced-marriage-unit

If you are experiencing any of the above a member of the team would be happy to have a confidential chat and discuss how we can help or your can call National Domestic violence help line on 0808 2000 247 or Victim support on 0300 30 30 157

IF YOU ARE CONCERNED FOR YOURS OR SOMEONES IMMEDIATE SAFETY PLEASE CALL 999

This is a criminal offence and you need to report it to the police.  You can do this on 101 or crime stoppers on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org.  If there is an immediate risk to yours or someone else’s safety, you can call 999. 

You can make a report to the police about drug relating information anonymously but, Westfield housing may ask you to make a statement if it is intelligence that could support legal action by housing. 

If the responsible person is a Westfield Housing tenant and convicted of the crime in the area where they live, tenancy enforcement action is likely to be taken.

Noise Nuisance is unwelcome behaviour and can cause harassment and distress to your neighbours.

A serious noise nuisance is loud and persistent.  If we receive reports of this behaviour we would ask the complainant to keep a Nuisance Diary for a period of time before handing it into the Office for review.  Your Housing Services Officer will review the information in the Diary to identify if the issue was persistent or a one-off.    Complainants need to understand we would not deal with general household noise, lifestyle clashes, children playing, walking across flooring or doors being opened or closed in flats as this is not a nuisance unless there is evidence that this was a deliberate act.

We will encourage tenants to have a friendly word with their neighbour if they feel they are able too.  In many cases, we find neighbours are unaware they are causing a disturbance.   If you feel uncomfortable speaking to your neighbour, you could consider popping a friendly note through their door explaining how their behaviour is affecting you.

If there is evidence that this is repeated behaviour and is causing alarm and distress in the neighbourhood, we would work with tenants to resolve the issue by using Acceptable Behaviour Agreements and in some cases, mediation.   We are unable to take legal action against this type of behaviour unless we have evidence from the local authority that the noise is unreasonable. 

Verbal abuse is the use of words to cause harm to the person being spoken to.  It is difficult to define and may take many forms.  Similarly, the harm caused is often difficult to measure.  The most understood form is name-calling however, it is a criminal offence if you wilfully make a verbal threat to cause another person great bodily injury or death.   If someone threatens you, you must tell the police on 101.

Verbal arguments and nonfactual allegations and rumours.  We do not all get on with our neighbours all of the time and would ask neighbours to speak to each other amicably and not take a hostile approach.  Suggest ways you are both be able to compromise to avoid falling out.  It may be that the neighbour was not aware of how much the situation was affecting you.   Westfield Housing would not get involved with tenants’ arguments.

See Violence, Threats of Violence or Harassment

Damage to our property is a breach of tenancy and tenants will be recharged for the damage.  Depending on the severity of the damage, it could be classed a criminal offence and, as such, will be reported to the police.

Dog noise will be dealt with depending on the severity.  If the dog barks only when visitors arrive at the property, it is not dog noise nuisance.  If the dog is barking continuously and or repeatedly when the owner is out, or for no reason, we would address this as a nuisance.  All tenants should ask permission to keep pets at their property and take responsibility for the behaviour of their animals.  This includes keeping their property and garden clear from animal faeces and damage.  If tenants have permission to keep a pet in their home, the pet should be kept up to date with regular flea treatments to prevent any infestations at the property.  If a property needs to be treat for an infestation this will be charges to he tenants.

The Association have the right to withdraw permission for tenants to keep animals in their property where the tenant has failed to work with the Association to rectify any problems caused by their animals.

Intimidation and Targeted nuisance is where there is a pattern of behaviour used with the intention to cause nuisance and annoyance to a specific person(s).  We would ask the victim to report the pattern of behaviour to the police and on 101

If the perpetrator is one of our tenants, we would address the issue as a breach of tenancy.