Dealing with Antisocial Behaviour as a Tenant

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) covers a wide range of conduct that causes nuisance, harassment, or distress. Common forms of ASB in residential settings include:

• Persistent noise nuisance — loud music, shouting, or late-night disturbances
• Harassment or intimidation of you, your family, or your property
• Drug use or dealing in or around the property
• Damage to communal areas or shared property
• Leaving rubbish in communal areas
• Aggressive or abusive behaviour
• Hate crime or hate-related harassment

Some of these behaviours may be criminal offences as well as breaches of tenancy conditions. Keeping a detailed log — noting each incident with dates, times, a description of what happened, and any witnesses — is essential for any formal action. Contact your local council's ASB team, the police, or your landlord depending on the severity and type of behaviour.

You have several routes for reporting and addressing ASB:

• Report to your landlord: If the perpetrator is another tenant of the same landlord, report in writing. Landlords (particularly social landlords) may be able to take action against the perpetrating tenant, including issuing warnings, serving notices, or applying to court for an injunction or possession.
• Report to the police: For criminal behaviour — threats, violence, drug dealing, hate crime — contact the police (999 for emergencies, 101 for non-emergencies). Obtain crime reference numbers for every report.
• Report to the local council: Councils have dedicated ASB teams. They can investigate, issue Community Protection Notices (CPNs), and apply for Civil Injunctions or Closure Orders under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
• Report to the environmental health team: For noise nuisance and other environmental ASB, the council's environmental health team can investigate and issue abatement notices.

If you are a social housing tenant and your landlord is not taking action against ASB by another of their tenants, you can escalate through the landlord's complaints process and ultimately to the Housing Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has found against landlords who failed to take appropriate action on ASB.

Under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, you can also use the Community Trigger — a formal mechanism for requesting a review of how agencies have responded to your ASB reports. If you have reported ASB three or more times in the past six months and no action has been taken, you can activate the Community Trigger by contacting your local council, police, or housing provider. This requires them to review the case and explain their response.

As a last resort, if ASB makes your property unsafe or uninhabitable, you may have grounds to apply to court for an injunction against the perpetrator, or to seek rehousing from your landlord or council.

The ASB Case Review (formerly known as the Community Trigger) is one of the most powerful — yet underused — tools available to victims of persistent antisocial behaviour. It is a formal right under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and it forces agencies to sit down together and review how a case has been handled.

You can request an ASB Case Review if:

• You have reported ASB on three or more separate occasions in the past six months, and
• You are not satisfied with the response — or no action appears to have been taken

The review is conducted by a multi-agency panel typically including the council, the police, and relevant housing providers. They must respond to you within a set timescale, explain what action has been taken, and — where appropriate — agree a coordinated action plan going forward. The process is free and does not require a solicitor.

Multi-agency working is particularly important in serious or persistent ASB cases. Different agencies have different powers: the council can issue Community Protection Notices, apply for Civil Injunctions, and request Closure Orders; the police can arrest for criminal behaviour and apply for injunctions; housing providers can serve notices and apply for possession. Effective coordination between these bodies is often what is required to resolve entrenched situations, and the ASB Case Review is the formal mechanism for bringing them together.

When to call the police: Always call 999 in an emergency — where there is immediate risk of violence, threats are being made, or a crime is in progress. For non-urgent criminal ASB — drug dealing, repeated harassment, criminal damage — call 101. Always obtain a crime reference number for every report, as these numbers are essential when activating the ASB Case Review and demonstrating the pattern of behaviour to a panel. If the police appear to be taking no action, you can contact your local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) or raise concerns through your police force's professional standards department.