Stopping antisocial behaviour
This content applies to England only.
Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. Get advice relating to Scotland
If you are a victim of antisocial behaviour, there are lots of things you can do to improve your situation. But don't try to take the law into your own hands, and never use violence.
You need to think very carefully before you take any action. Except in an emergency, don't rush what you are doing. Be calm, and be organised. Don't exaggerate, and don't act out of malice or prejudice - these things may backfire on you. And don't damage other people's property. For example, if you break into a car to stop an alarm you are probably committing criminal damage.
Think carefully
When you take any steps, make sure that you are not putting yourself or other people at risk. Don't do things that might make the problem worse, unless you have to. For example, it is sensible to report the problem to your landlord, even though it might make things worse for a while, but it is not sensible to shout at the person who is causing the problem.
Make sure that you have adequate locks on your home. This is always important, but particularly if you are falling out with neighbours.
In cases where there is a risk of serious violence, you may need to make arrangements to sleep away from home. Discuss doing this with the police, your landlord or an adviser.
Find out what's happening
Often it will be obvious what is going on, and who is the cause of it. But where there are many flats close together, it might take time to find out where noise is coming from. Do what you reasonably can to try to work out what is going on, including what you see and hear for yourself and information that other people tell you.
Try to get the name of the person or people who are behaving antisocially, and get their address. Try to find out whether they rent their home and who from. You could find out the owner's name from the Land Registry.
Keep records
You will need to make notes or a diary of what has happened and when. You only need to record incidents that interfere with your life. Record the time and date, the person or people involved and brief details of what happened. For example, if there is loud noise, your note should describe the noise ('loud music'), how loud ('louder than my TV') and how long it lasted ('over an hour'). Don't exaggerate. The notes can be written or typed, but try to make sure that other people can read them.
Your record could also include photographs, video clips or sound recordings. But be reasonable. If your neighbour feels spied on, that may make things worse. And you need to have a sense of proportion about what is going on.
Talk to your neighbours
You can find out whether neighbours share your problem. They may have useful information about the cause of the antisocial behaviour, or things that are already being done about it. Find out what they are doing or if they have tried to put an end to the problem. You could ask your neighbours to also start making a written record of incidents.
You can work with your neighbours to:
- share information
- report incidents or to demand action
- support each other in a difficult time.
Make sure that you always make up your own mind about what you do and that your neighbours think for themselves too. There may be a residents' association in your area that you can join.
Report incidents
If the problem becomes serious, you have to report it. There are different organisations you can report your problem to. You can report antisocial behaviour to the council's environmental health officer (EHO) and, if an advice centre or solicitor is advising you, keep them informed of developments.
If crimes are being committed
Report crimes, including serious harassment, drug dealing or acts of violence to the police. Get a crime reference number, as proof that you have reported it.
If you rent your home
Report problems to your landlord. Always report it in writing, or if in a meeting ask if you can have a copy of the meeting notes. If there are a lot of incidents, don't report each one as it happens, but report particularly serious incidents and send updated reports every week, or every month. You can copy your diary records or notes. If your landlord is the council or a housing association, they should have procedures for monitoring the situation and helping you.
If you know that the neighbour rents
Report the problem to their landlord. The landlord can do things to try to stop the bad behaviour (eg demote the tenancy), and may evict the neighbour or refuse to renew their tenancy. Councils and housing associations can use ASBOs and behaviour contracts.
If the neighbour lives in a leasehold flat
Report the problem to the freeholder or managing agent.
If the neighbour cannot look after themselves
If the antisocial behaviour is caused by someone who cannot look after themselves (eg because of a mental health problem or learning disability) you could tell social services that they need help.
If communications are being interfered with
If there is abuse of the post, report it to the Post Office. And if it involves use of telephones, texts or emails, report it to your service provider. These organisations can often screen out unwanted communications, and the Post Office can prosecute
Get advice
If you report the problem to the council or housing association, they should help you to decide what to do. But remember they may not want the same outcome as you. They may seem slow or inefficient. You can't expect immediate action except in emergencies, but things should be moved on reasonably quickly. So get advice if you don't agree with what they are doing or if they don't seem to be doing anything.
If you need advice, use our directory to find a Shelter advice centre, Citizens Advice or other local advice centre in your area. Alternatively, you could search for a legal adviser or solicitor through this Legal Adviser FInder. A solicitor will need to charge you, but you may qualify for legal aid. Always remember to ask about charges first.
