Legal remedies for occupiers dealing with antisocial behaviour
Legal remedies for occupiers experiencing antisocial behaviour and harassment that is not aimed at forcing occupiers to leave their accommodation.
Legal definition of antisocial behaviour
Antisocial behaviour is an offence under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The legal definition includes harassment, but also covers a range of other situations. Antisocial behaviour may have occurred where an occupier is subjected to behaviour from a person not of the same household, which causes (or is likely to cause) harassment, alarm or distress.[1] Any person, including adults or children, can carry out antisocial behaviour.
Antisocial behaviour is persistent behaviour and can include:
verbal abuse
harassment because of sex, race, disability, gender reassignment, or sexuality
violence or threats of violence
systematic bullying and/or intimidation
noise which is part of a pattern of antisocial behaviour
dumping rubbish
vandalism, damage to property and graffiti
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
This Act can be used to tackle harassment by a landlord, harassment by other people in the locality and discriminatory harassment.
The Act makes it a criminal offence for any person to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another person, and they know or ought to know is harassment.[2]
A person can be said to know that the course of action they are pursuing constitutes harassment if a 'reasonable person in possession of the same information' would think it was harassment.
A 'course of conduct' means, in relation to a single person, conduct that occurs on at least two occasions, or on one occasion to each of two or more people.[3] It is a course of conduct as a whole which must constitute harassment,[4] and it is for the courts to decide whether a course of conduct constitutes harassment.
It is a defence if the course of conduct pursued was reasonable in the particular circumstances.
Harassing someone includes causing them alarm or distress, or putting other people in fear of violence.[5]
The statutory definition of harassment is deliberately wide. The courts have held that in order to constitute harassment and justify the sanctions of the criminal law, behaviour must go beyond that which is 'unattractive or regrettable' or even 'unreasonable and disproportionate'[6] to that which is 'oppressive and unacceptable'.[7]
In a case where a housing association had sent a number of letters accusing two of its long-term tenants of taking inappropriate images of children and of antisocial behaviour, and threatening them with possession action, the Court of Appeal held that the careless, uncritical and inadequate inquiries made by the housing association in relation to the alleged breaches of tenancy meant that the letters were sent out on an incorrect and unjustified basis. A reasonable person with the information which the association knew or ought to have known would have thought that the course of conduct it embarked upon in sending the letters amounted to harassment of the tenants in question.[8]
Offence of stalking
The Act also criminalises stalking someone where this amounts to harassment. Examples of stalking given in the Act are following, watching or spying on someone.[9]
Sanctions
A person guilty of harassment can be punished by imprisonment and/or a fine. Where the harassment has put someone in fear of violence, this carries a higher imprisonment sentence. The criminal court can make an order restraining someone from committing further offences.
The Act also enables anyone who has been subjected to persistent harassment to seek an injunction against the perpetrator and/or claim damages for anxiety and/or injury and/or financial losses resulting from the harassment. The court, in deciding the level of damages to award, will consider factors such as the period of time that the harassment has been going on, the vulnerability of the victim, and the motivation of the perpetrator.[10] Foreseeability of the injury or losses is not an essential element in that cause of action and, once it is proved that the perpetrator has committed harassment, they are responsible in damages for the injury and losses which resulted from their conduct.[11]
Breach of a restraining order or an injunction made under the Act is punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine.[12]
Local authority powers under Housing Act 1996
The Housing Act 1996 allows local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour by, for instance, the use of Introductory tenancies [13] and through policies restricting access to an allocation of social housing.[14]
With respect to the allocation of social housing, a local authority has the power to decide that a person with a history of antisocial behaviour is:
not be a qualifying person (a local authority can decide to only allocate accommodation to a qualifying person)[15]
given less priority in determining priorities between people in the reasonable preference categories[16]
The Housing Act 1996 also extended the grounds for possession against secure[17] and assured[18] tenants to include:
antisocial behaviour against any person living or visiting the locality
allowing the property to be used for illegal or immoral purposes (for example by persons other than the tenant)
domestic abuse
Further, a homeless applicant could be found intentionally homeless if they lost accommodation as a consequence of their antisocial behaviour or that of a member of their household.[19]
Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003
Part 2 deals with antisocial behaviour in the housing context. The Act requires certain social landlords to prepare and publish policies and procedures on anti-social behaviour that must be made available to the public.[20]
Social landlords can ask the court to demote secure or assured tenancies to twelve-month probationary tenancies. If during the probation year the landlord has cause for complaint about the tenant's behaviour (including rent arrears), the tenancy can be terminated without needing to prove any grounds for possession.[21]
Demotion involves the court making an order that:
ends an existing secure or assured tenancy, and
replaces it with a new tenancy which gives the tenant reduced security of tenure for a period of time, and
carries forward arrears and credits from the old rent account on to the new rent account
Policing and Crime Act 2009
Part 4 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 contains provisions for the police or a local authority to apply for an injunction aimed at tackling 'gang-related violence' or 'gang-related drug dealing activity'. Injunctions can be obtained against any person aged 14 or over, can make prohibitions associated with gang membership such as from being in a particular place or wearing a particular item of clothing.
They can also make requirements that, for example, a person presents at particular places at particular times or participates in certain activities at prescribed times.
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 enacted new provisions aimed at reforming the antisocial behaviour rules and tools previously available.
It also repealed much other legislation around antisocial behaviour, including:
Sections 1 to 4 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which create antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs), individual support orders and other less common orders.
Part 1 and part 1A of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 which allows for closure orders of premises where drugs are used unlawfully or which are associated with persistent disorder or violence and for social landlords to obtain antisocial behaviour injunctions against people causing a nuisance or annoyance which interferes with people living in or 'engaged in lawful conduct in' the neighbourhood, other accommodation owned by the landlord or the employees of the landlord
ASBOs already made continue to have force until their expiry.[22] Breach is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment.[23]
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act consolidated and simplified the law, reducing the pre-existing antisocial behaviour tools and powers from 19 to six:
injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance
criminal behaviour orders
dispersal powers
community protection notices
public spaces protection orders
closure powers
The 2014 Act also introduced a new mandatory ground for possession for antisocial behaviour against secure tenants and assured tenants, as well as new community powers.
See the Home Office guidance on Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act for details of powers that the police, local authorities and other local agencies can use to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Local Government Act 1972
This Act gives general powers to local authorities to combat all forms of harassment, including racial and sexual harassment. An authority can defend or appear in any legal proceedings and/or instigate civil proceedings in its own name. This means that a local authority could, for example, take proceedings to evict a private tenant who is harassing another occupier where the perpetrator's landlord does not take action.
Authorities can also use the Act to apply for injunctions against perpetrators, usually for breaches of criminal law, such as drug dealing or burglary, or to take criminal proceedings, for example under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which does not specifically give local authorities powers of prosecution.[24]
However, it is extremely unlikely that an authority would use their powers to take civil proceedings on behalf of a tenant, for example in a damages claim following harassment or illegal eviction.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 protects individuals from being unlawfully discriminated against on the ground of one or more of the following protected characteristics:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
race (this includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins)
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation
Last updated: 22 March 2023