When you contact us we will ask you what has been happening and try to get a full picture of events. We will need to know the dates and times of incidents, what happened, who was involved and how it has made you feel.

We then assess your complaint to decide how we will investigate it.

Level one complaints are urgent and warrant a response within 24 working hours. This type of anti-social behaviour may include but is not limited to:

  • Violence
  • Threats of violence
  • Hate crime
  • Severe harassment
  • Serious criminal activity which is causing harm to a person(s) or community where action has to be coordinated with other agencies
  • Dangerous dogs (breed defined by the Dangerous Dog Act 1991).

Level two complaints warrant a response within five working days. This type of anti-social behaviour may include but is not limited to:

  • Juvenile nuisance
  • Noise nuisance
  • Criminal damage (including the removal of graffiti)
  • Harassment that does not involve threats to the victim
  • Alcohol related incidents that may need a multi-agency response 
  • Clash of lifestyle.

At the end of the discussion we will have agreed an action plan with you that describes what you should do and what we will do to rectify the problem.

If you can identify the perpetrator then we will probably need to interview them. We will not interview them unless you give us permission to do so and unless it is safe. Where you ask us not to speak to them we will discuss with you how we are then able to take your complaint forward.

Where appropriate we will agree a witness support plan should you wish to engage with our witness support service. If appropriate we will provide extra security for your home.

You can find out more about how we support victims and witnesses by clicking here.

If the case does not involve threats, violence or serious harassment then we may suggest that you discuss the problem with the other person and we may be able to get a mediator to help. Mediators are experts in helping people resolve disputes and this service is free of charge.

We can’t take action against somebody simply because someone has complained about them – we need evidence.

The most important evidence you can gather is by keeping a diary of events that you see or hear. We can provide a diary and advise you how to fill it in or we can give you a voice recorder to record events as and when they happen.

We may also need to collect other evidence such as photographs or video recordings of the incidents and speak to other people who have witnessed the incidents. We understand that it can be difficult for people to come forward if they are suffering anti-social behaviour but it is always better to get evidence from victims and witnesses.

You need to tell us how the incident made you feel.

We will warn perpetrator(s) in person about their behaviour and ask them to stop it immediately and we will let you know how and when we have done this. We will ask the perpetrator to work with us to try to change their behaviour.

If we feel that they are suffering from ill health (such as mental illness) or lack of support then we may try to resolve the situation by referring them to other agencies that can help to change their behaviour.

If these actions fail then we will consider taking legal action.

Where necessary we will take legal action and act to enforce powers on anyone found to have broken the law or our tenancy agreements.

To report an incident of anti-social behaviour please click this link.