Anti-social behaviour

Some examples of anti social behaviour (ASB) are neighbour nuisance, vandalism and graffiti, noise nuisance, misuse or serious neglect of gardens, nuisance from pets, car crime, drug related crime, verbal abuse, intimidation, domestic violence and racial harassment.

What can we do?

There are a number of potential remedies available. More information can be found in our ASB Key Information Sheet (1.4 MB).

Support

Every effort will be made by Mercian to support witnesses and victims of anti social behaviour.

We aim to support and create communities people can take pride in. To ensure we do this, we will monitor and constantly review reports and trends in ASB.

Reporting ASB

Email: ReportASB@mercian.org.uk
Contact: your Neighbourhood Officer on 0121 322 7373

Mercian Housing Association takes ASB seriously and we understand how it impacts negatively on the neighbourhood and the lives of individuals. We will use every means possible to prevent ASB from occurring and where necessary, we will use every tool at our disposal to resolve ASB should incidents occur. We will:

• Respond positively and quickly to any reports of anti social behaviour.
• Treat all reports in a professional manner and do everything possible to remedy the situation.
• Use early intervention methods where appropriate. Resort to legal recourse where necessary but in the main as a last resort.
• Provide regular updates throughout the course of a case.

What does ASB include?

As explained above, ASB is behaviour which causes, or is likely to cause harassment or distress, from persistent nuisance to serious violent behaviour. Further to this, incidents of anti social behaviour may include (but are not only):

• Noise
• Verbal abuse/harassment/intimidation/threatening behaviour
• Hate-related incidents (based on race, sexual orientation, gender, disability, religion, age etc.)
• Vandalism and damage to property
• Pets and animal nuisance
• Nuisance from vehicles
• Drugs/substance misuse/drug dealing
• Alcohol-related
• Domestic abuse
• Physical violence
• Litter/rubbish/fly-tipping
• Garden nuisance
• Misuse of communal areas/public space or loitering
• Prostitution/sexual acts/kerb crawling
• Criminal behaviour/crime

What doesn't ASB include?

Mercian Housing Association will not take action against residents where the behaviour amounts to a clash of lifestyles and does not constitute a breach of tenancy agreement. For example:

• Children playing in their own back garden
• Reasonable household noise in flats
• Having visitors

All residents have a responsibility to show tolerance towards others and Mercian encourages residents to be accepting of different lifestyles.

How to report ASB

Any resident or member of the community can report ASB in the following ways:

• On the telephone - speak to your Neighbourhood Officer by calling 0121 322 7373
• In person at Mercian’s office
• In writing
• Via email - ReportASB@mercian.org.uk
• Via Mercian’s website enquiry form
• Request a home visit
• Via a third party eg. a dedicated ASB reporting telephone line.
• Service Standards
• All customers who report anti-social behaviour can expect to speak to a Neighbourhood Officer within 1 working day of their report being made.

Where the complaint involves a hate crime (for example, racial harassment) or the use of violence, a member of staff will visit the person who has complained to Mercian within 1 woking day of the report being made. All other customers who would like a home visit will be visited by a Neighbourhood Officer within 10 working days of the report being made.

A Neighbourhood Officer will agree an action plan with all residents who report anti-social behaviour. This action plan will also agree dates and times for a member of staff to make contact in order to provide an update on the progress of a case.

When a case has been resolved or where Mercian has no further action available to take, the case will be closed in writing. All residents will have the chance to object when a case is closed.

Last modified 21/09/11