Dealing with antisocial behaviour
Antisocial behaviour is behaviour that is disruptive to you, your friends and family, or your local community.
All Clarion residents should behave respectfully under the terms of their tenancies or lease agreements, which means any antisocial behaviour or criminality could lead to eviction.
Important: If you’re in immediate danger, phone the police on 999.
What is antisocial behaviour?
Antisocial behaviour can mean a one-off incident of violence or crime, but it often refers to a problem or issue that lasts over a longer period of time. It can include:
- actual or threatened violence, physical abuse, or verbal abuse
- illegal use of premises or other criminal behaviour, such as drug dealing
- drug or alcohol-related nuisance
- vandalism or misuse of communal areas and public spaces
- neighbourhood nuisance, such as littering, fly-tipping, or joyriding
- pet and animal nuisance, such as using animals in a threatening way
- excessive noise, shouting, swearing, and banging.
What isn't antisocial behaviour
Problems due to different lifestyles or everyday living situations are not normally considered antisocial behaviour. These low-level behaviours often include babies crying, children playing, DIY during reasonable hours, one-off parties, cooking or household smells, smoke and minor disputes between neighbours.
Is noise antisocial behaviour
Complaints about noise are not normally considered antisocial behaviour. Noise is an unavoidable part of life, especially if you live in flats that share facilities or live close to your neighbours.
Get help with antisocial behaviour
To get help with antisocial behaviour in your area, you must report it. There are different steps to this process that depend on what you're experiencing.
Keep a record
Make a note of the time and place of any incidents. Include as much detail as possible, such as who was involved, how long it lasted, and if there were other witnesses. You can also take photos, as long as it's safe to do so and won't make the situation worse.
Talk to the person involved
If you feel safe and comfortable to do so, try talking to the person involved about how their behaviour is affecting you, and tell them what you think would improve the situation. Listen to their views and try to reach a compromise.
Find out more
Citizens Advice also has guidance on disputes with neighbours and antisocial behaviour.
Complaining about your neighbour
How we deal with complaints
Depending on how serious the problem is, we may arrange an interview with you and agree an action plan. If it’s a high-risk case, we’ll aim to do this within one working day.
To resolve your situation, we may work with the police, local authorities, youth offending teams, mediation services, and voluntary organisations.
Early intervention can often resolve a problem before it gets out of control. We’ll likely start with an informal discussion, which may be followed by other steps like mediation, written and verbal warnings, and agreeing an Acceptable Behaviour Contract.
If this fails, or the behaviour is very serious, we may need to take legal action. This might include demoted tenancies, court injunctions, or as a last resort, eviction.
Confidentiality
Your complaint is confidential. We won’t give out your details without your permission. However, unless it’s a criminal matter the police have advised us on, we can’t usually take action against someone without speaking to them, which means your identity may become known.
Community Trigger antisocial behaviour complaints process
Regardless of which agency is investigating an antisocial behaviour case, the Community Trigger (also known as an ASB Case Review) is a process that allows you, or someone acting on your behalf, to ask for a review of the responses to your complaints.
You can use the Community Trigger at the same time as following up an antisocial behaviour complaint.
The trigger should only be used if no action has been taken as a result of you repeatedly reporting antisocial behaviour.
Find out more
Community Trigger processes are run by local councils. You’ll find information, including how to apply, on your local council’s website.
The national ASB Help charity has useful information about the Community Trigger, including a directory of local council Community Trigger website pages.
We worked with the police and residents to resolve the most serious issues and developed a Good Neighbour Code.
Case study: The Brislington estate
After an antisocial behaviour complaint at the Brislington estate, we set up a task-and-finish group to discuss what was happening. We also invited the police to speak to residents during an estate walkabout.
We found that there was antisocial behaviour, including drug-related activity, parking issues, untidy gardens, and cars being repaired on the roadside as a business.
Alongside our teams, the police and residents were able to resolve a lot of the issues. We held gardening competitions to deal with untidy gardens, and developed a Good Neighbour Code to support the continued improvement of the estate. Local events and activities also improved the sense of community.
As a result, there has been a reduction in reports of antisocial behaviour, people feel more included, and community events are being organised regularly by Brislington residents.