CPD module: identifying and addressing anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) – acting in a way that causes distress or alarm to others – can stop tenants from being able to live comfortably in their homes. In this way, it can prevent social landlords from providing safe properties and communities where people can thrive.

The causes of ASB are complex and multifaceted, but frontline staff can adopt some general principles that help to resolve instances of this sort of conduct.

This CPD article considers the definition of ASB, its impact, its causes, and how to address it at an individual, building or neighbourhood-wide level. It draws on experiences at Midland Heart, a housing association with more than 35,000 homes across the Midlands.

The legal definition of ASB is set out in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It is described as behaviour that falls into any one of the three following categories:

• Conduct that is causing or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person
• Conduct that is capable of causing a nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises
• Conduct that is capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person

There are multiple examples of behaviour that could fall into one of these categories. They include:

• Causing excessive noise
• Verbal abuse or other threatening behaviour
• Drug-dealing or recreational drug use
• Dog barking or other pet nuisance
• Flytipping
• Vandalism
• Non-residents loitering in communal areas
• Harassment and hate crime

The impact of ASB can be significant, both for individual residents and their landlords.

For individuals, ASB can lead to:

• An inability to peacefully enjoy their home. Their home may cease to be a place of safety, comfort and relaxation.
• Isolation. Those experiencing intimidating behaviour can become isolated and avoid leaving their home.

Both of these can affect someone’s well-being and have serious consequences. For example, individuals could lose their jobs through lack of sleep caused by ASB, with tiredness leaving them unable to perform effectively at work.

In addition, neighbourhoods that become known for ASB can become perceived as ‘no-go’ areas. For social landlords, that may mean people do not want to move into homes offered within those neighbourhoods. It may also mean that people already living there decide to move out.

In 2023, the Home Office published research on the impact of ASB on individuals and local communities. It reported on existing evidence suggesting that ASB can result in emotional, behavioural, social, health and financial impacts.

The Home Office also revealed the results of its own survey on the impact of ASB. In that survey:

• Emotional impacts of ASB were found among nearly all participants. Annoyance, anger, fear, loss of confidence, difficulty sleeping and anxiety were all commonly cited.
• Behavioural impacts were also reported. Around a third of respondents had avoided certain places, a quarter went out less often, and just under a fifth said they had changed their travel habits as a result of ASB.

Such consequences are not only felt by those who directly experience ASB, they can also be present in people who witness others being exposed to it.

The causes of ASB are complex. Some relate to individual circumstances; poor mental health might cause someone to shout or otherwise make excessive noise, for instance. Domestic abuse can, sadly, also lead to loud voices and disturbance.

Some causes are related to wider circumstances within a community. Young people playing ball games in areas where they are not supposed to could be the result of a lack of open spaces in the local area, for example. Or a lack of CCTV or lighting might make a passageway particularly attractive to those dealing drugs.

• Take a pragmatic approach, initially focused on support rather than enforcement. Dealing effectively with ASB is often less about addressing the complaint itself and more about understanding the underlying issues. Consider a complaint about the volume of an older person’s television. Could it be that the person has a hearing issue and would therefore benefit from a recommendation they see their GP? That sort of solution, which comes from looking at why an issue has arisen, tends to lead to a good outcome both for the person who has complained as well as for the person who has been complained about.
• Take an unbiased view. There are two sides to every story. In reports about ASB, it is vital that both are listened to and understood. Frontline staff need to have open conversations with both complainer and complainant, including understanding the impact a behaviour is having.
• Seek the facts and try to find objective ways to measure them. Wherever possible, staff should focus on provable facts rather than opinions, and technology can be a great help. At Midland Heart, for example, those complaining about noise are asked to download The Noise App, a free smartphone app that enables users to make recordings of the sound that is bothering them. These can then be shared with and reviewed by staff.
• Support residents to have conversations with one another where possible. Often a quick chat between a complainer and complainant can resolve an issue, assuming the complainer feels safe to have such a conversation. Support from a staff member can help provide an environment for this to happen, preventing the situation from escalating.

As well as ensuring that individual reports of ASB are managed effectively, social landlords can take more strategic approaches to dealing with these behaviours.

• Seek to identify any buildings or neighbourhoods where ASB is a particular issue. At Midland Heart, staff have identified areas where there are multiple reports of ASB and then launched a programme of intervention. This involved identifying any physical changes that could be made to decrease the likelihood of ASB – including extra CCTV, upgrades to communal areas, better lighting, and adding or removing external ‘furniture’ such as fencing – as well as working with tenants directly. Much of the success of this programme was down to teams from across the organisation working together, rather than making ASB the sole responsibility of one department.
• Seek to be visible and to offer clear reporting mechanisms. Ensuring that residents know what constitutes ASB, and how to report it, means that issues are more likely to be raised and dealt with swiftly. At Midland Heart, community events have been organised to discuss issues and have been grounded in a partnership approach, with police representatives and local MPs often in attendance.
• Consider technology. Ring Video Doorbells can offer a fairly cheap and easy way for residents to share their experiences of ASB. Live, centralised video monitoring of areas causing particular concern – places known for fly-tipping, for instance – can also be useful, although do involve a more substantial financial investment.

Whether working on individual cases or more strategically, the most important element tends to be early and non-judgemental intervention. This stops problems from becoming more deeply embedded and tends to make them easier and quicker to solve.

Building relationships with those affected by ASB and those accused of it, and working to understand underlying issues, can avoid the need to take enforcement action – benefiting tenants and landlords alike.

• Has this article changed how you think about ASB? If so, what does your new understanding mean for how you will now approach ASB reports among tenants?
• Are there buildings or neighbourhoods in which ASB is a particular concern for your organisation? How do you think you could contribute to identifying and tackling these ‘hotspots’?
• What one point in this piece do you want to share with colleagues who may not have read it? How will you share it?

Anti-social behaviour is known to negatively impact individual tenants, their landlords, and the well-being of local communities more generally.

While its causes are complex, adopting a pragmatic, non-judgemental approach and trying to understand the situation from both sides offers the best possible chance of successful resolution.

Next, answer the questions below. Get all the questions correct and you will receive a certificate confirming your award of 30 CPD minutes within 10 working days via email. Get any questions wrong and you can retake the test by refreshing your web browser.

• Home Office (2023), Research and analysis – Anti-social behaviour: impacts on individuals and local communities, www.gov.uk/government/publications/impacts-of-anti-social-behaviour-on-individuals-and-communities/anti-social-behaviour-impacts-on-individuals-and-local-communities

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