Tackling anti-social behaviour in your community

At Castles & Coasts Housing Association (CCHA) we believe that everybody has a right to enjoy their home and live safely and peacefully. That’s why we’re committed to working with residents and our local communities to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and neighbour nuisance.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is defined as ‘behaviour by any person that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not in the same household as them.’

Examples of ASB include:

Violence or threats of violence

Verbal abuse

Hate crime and harassment

Domestic abuse

Possession, selling or growing illegal drugs

Noise nuisance –loud, persistent

Damage to property

Nuisance from vehicles

Criminal activity at a property

What isn’t classed as ASB?

It’s important to recognise that people have very different lifestyles, and a little bit of understanding can go a long way. These are examples of activities that we wouldn’t class as ASB:

Children playing, unless they’re abusive, cause damage or are causing serious noise nuisance

Babies crying

Cooking smells or preparing meals at different times of the day

Everyday household noises during the day such as the TV, music, washing machines, or dogs barking when someone knocks at the door

How can CCHA help?

As you can see from the list opposite, ASB covers a wide range of issues and we know it can cause residents distress, so we take any reports very seriously.

If you’re a CCHA resident being affected by ASB, or if it’s happening within a CCHA property and affecting you, it’s really important that you report it.

There are lots of ways you can report ASB:

• Call 999 if you, or anyone in your neighbourhood, is in immediate danger

• If it’s a non-emergency, report to the police by calling 101

• Let us know by completing the ASB reporting form on our website. Either scan the QR code below on your smartphone or type this address into your web browser, to go to the page: castlesandcoasts.co.uk/yourhome/anti-social-behaviour/

• To report noise nuisance, you can use the Noise App, a quick and easy to use app that lets you make reports directly to us, for free, in real time. It’s free to download and works with all Android and iOS devices. Find out more on the website: www.thenoiseapp.com

If you can’t access our website, please call us on 0800 085 1171 and let the customer services team know you wish to report ASB.

How can I help?

We encourage residents to make the best of their local communities, and to always consider others when going about their everyday lives.

Be kind to your neighbours by carrying out housework and garden maintenance at a reasonable time of the day, keeping noise levels as low as you can, making sure your children don’t disturb other people when they play, and not leaving a dog to bark constantly in your home or garden. And if you’re planning a party or need to do some noisy DIY, let them know in advance.

What happens next?

If you do make a report of ASB to us, you’ll be allocated a CCHA Officer. They’ll contact you within five working days, keep you updated on the case and ask for any more information if they need it.

This might include keeping a diary, using the Noise app or other things that could help. Mediation can also work really well in some cases, so we might ask you to consider this.

Someone independent of you and the person you feel is causing ASB would listen to both of you and seek to resolve the problem.

There might be some cases where we refer the issue to another agency to deal with. For example, dog straying and dog fouling are areas dealt with by local authorities. We’ll let you know if this is the case.

To view this information in another format, please visit: castlesandcoasts.co.uk/ your-home/anti-social-behaviour to use our website’s accessibility tools, or call our Customer Service Team on 0800 085 1171.