Anti – Social Behaviour Help & Training Session

Please see the below overview on the topic of Anti-Social Behaviour - if any landlords are having any issues regarding this subject we have booked an online training session exclusively for NWLA members.

This session will take place on Thursday, 28 October 2021, 2pm – 3pm. This will be held on Microsoft Teams and the meeting log in details will be sent to you by email prior to the meeting.

If you have any specific detailed questions that you would like to have some guidance on you can send them on an email to admin@northwestlandlords.com

FREE Training on dealing with Anti-Social Behaviour for Private Sector landlords

Whether you have one or many properties or experiencing this at the minute, this will be useful knowledge for you.

It will be delivered by Derek Kennett in conjunction with Salford City Council and Irwell Valley homes. This training will give you the view on what the police and local authorities take on dealing with ASB.

Derek is:

• Ex police officer
• Been in housing since 2004
• Community safety manager for councils
• Project manager writing policies and procedures
• First contact for MP’s and councilors
• Representing as gold contact in major incidents/ at police meetings
• Trainer
• Wrote the BTEC courses on ASB
• Accredited Mediator, Conflict Coach, Restorative Justice Facilitator
• Senior advisor on Anti-Social Behaviour & Crime/ to government/home office
• One of the professional specialists in ASB that the BBC and Guardian Newspaper use when conducting live on air phone issues

Overview

In some circumstances, you may need to act because your tenants are committing anti-social behaviour. This could be more minor disruptive behaviour (for example against housemates or neighbours in a House of Multiple Occupation), or it could be serious and/or criminal. Whilst possession action is one method of resolving such issues, there are alternative courses of action which you may wish to consider prior to, or instead of, serving a notice requiring or seeking possession.

You should always act carefully when negotiating with tenants who are accused of anti-social or disruptive behaviour. Take care not to jeopardise your own or others’ safety and take advice from the appropriate source (for example, a solicitor, your local authority or the police), if you are unsure how to proceed.

Some disruptive behaviours could be resolved through a frank and full discussion by the parties involved. You should talk to or write to your tenant in the first instance, informing them of the complaints which have been made against them and making clear that their behaviour is unacceptable. You should keep a record of the conversation. If this does not work, you must give the tenant a final warning and make a record of this.

Sometimes, a tenant is not the right fit for the property, particularly in a House of Multiple Occupation, for example if they do not get on with their housemates. You may wish to discuss ending the tenancy by mutual consent. However, you must not harass or force the tenant to leave without following the formal possession process.

When responding to severe instances of anti-social behaviour, it may be worth bearing in mind that the police, local authorities and other local agencies have a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour, as provided by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. These include:

• Civil Injunctions which are available to the police, local council and other local agencies on application to the courts and can impose restrictions or positive requirements on individuals who have engaged or threatened to engage in anti-social behaviour in order to prevent them from engaging in this behaviour;
• Community Protection Notices which can be used by the police or the local authority to deal with ongoing problems or nuisances which are having a persistent or continuing and detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality;
• A Closure Power which the police and local authorities can use to close premises of which use has resulted in, or is likely soon to result in, nuisance and disorder; and
• Criminal Behaviour Orders which can be issued by a court and impose restrictions or positive requirements on an individual convicted of a previous criminal offence, who has engaged in behaviour that has caused, or was likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress.

You may wish to read the statutory guidance for frontline practitioners on the use of powers to address anti-social behaviour.

You should consider contacting your local authority or the police in the first instance. If a criminal offence, such as criminal damage or assault, has taken place you should contact the police straight away.

If, having tried alternative means of resolving anti-social behaviour being perpetrated by a tenant, you feel that you have no option but to seek possession, there are grounds for you to do so under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.

Ground 7A, is for cases where serious anti-social behaviour has already been established in other court proceedings anti-social behaviour has a minimum notice period of 4 weeks (for periodic tenancies) or 1 month (for a fixed term tenancy).

Ground 14 is for nuisance or annoyance, or the illegal or immoral use of the property and proceedings can be commenced immediately after the service of the notice.

Ground 14 is a discretionary ground, which means that you need to bring forward evidence to prove that the anti-social behaviour has taken place and, if the court is satisfied by the evidence, it will take all of the circumstances into account and will decide if it is reasonable to grant possession.

Ground 7A is a mandatory ground, which means that the judge must grant possession if you can prove that the ground has been met. For more information about the notice periods which need to be provided for anti-social behaviour under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 please see Annex A (England) or Annex B (Wales)

The webinar will briefly cover the courses available that are FREE of charge and look at what help is FREE to you in dealing with ASB issues in your property.

There will also be time for you to pose questions about issues you are having with tenants to Derek, please get in touch for further details.