Nuisance and Neighbour Disputes
We will take action against behaviour, comments or physical contact that makes a person feel threatened.
Reporting nuisance neighbours
If you have a complaint to make about the behaviour of a neighbour or anti-social behaviour in your area, you should start by raising the complaint with the person involved. Once the neighbour is aware, they will usually take action to avoid the problem continuing. An agreement reached directly between everyone involved always produces the best solution.
As well as online reporting, you can contact us by telephone or visit the Customer Service Centre where you will be put in contact with your Tenancy Adviser.
We will accept reports made by other people on your behalf.
Before reporting, it will help if you can provide as many relevant facts as possible, including dates, times and the location of any relevant incidents. You should give details of any action that you have taken to try and sort the problem out.
Investigation
The Tenancy Adviser will investigate each complaint made. In order to get a clear understanding of the situation, they will interview all those involved.
Incident log
In certain cases you may be required to fill in an Incident Log to record an accurate record of events.
Action
We will try to deal with neighbour disputes by discussion with the people involved. This may require more than one visit over a period of time. We hope that most disputes can be settled by agreement between the people involved on the action to be taken. Alternatively, an independent mediator service may be used.
If a dispute cannot be settled by mutual agreement, we will consider other ways of resolving it. These may involve warning letters, legal action and possession proceedings.
We will notify anybody who has made a complaint against a neighbour of the action that we intend to take, or have taken. In some situations, no action will be taken by us. Interviews will be completed, and action plans will be agreed with the complainant and with the alleged offender.
We categorise anti-social behaviour in three levels with different timescales to respond.
| Category A - High level ASB (for example, assault or harassment) | Visit / interview 1 working day | Action plan within a further 3 working days |
|---|---|---|
| Category B - Medium level ASB (for example, vandalism or persistent nuisance) | Visit / interview 3 working days | Action plan within a further 5 days of visit / interview |
| Category C - Low level ASB (for example, noise disturbance) | Visit / interview 5 working days | Action plan within a further 10 days |
You can also seek the help of a solicitor who may suggest that you take the person causing the nuisance to court independently. Your solicitor will help you prepare a case.
Our service standards
All options will be discussed with you and no action will be taken without your permission.
We will:
- offer to visit you at your home, in a location where you feel safe, or offer you an appointment at our offices, to discuss the issue.
- categorise anti-social behaviour as low, medium or high dependent on the type of incident and visit you within the timescales already detailed.
- work with other agencies to resolve anti-social behaviour and, If you allow us, will pass on your details to them.
- keep in regular contact with you, at least monthly, until the issues are resolved, or the case is closed.
- offer the person making the complaint and witnesses advice and support such as completing any paperwork and contacting other agencies.
- complete urgent repairs where these will help in resolving the issue and where any damage has been reported to the police.
- tackle anti-social behaviour using a range of appropriate methods including mediation and legal action and explain all the options to you.