It is essential to us that our tenants feel safe, secure and at peace in their homes.
We therefore take anti-social behaviour (ASB) very seriously.
We define ASB as deliberate and intentional acts that may result in nuisance, annoyance, harassment, alarm or distress to others, including the failure to address inconsiderate behaviour of this nature.
Examples of anti-social behaviour are:
We take harassment and hate crime extremely seriously. We define hate crime as behaviour committed against a person or property which is motivated by hostility towards someone based on their race, ethnic or national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age or religion.
Domestic abuse may also be considered as anti-social behaviour. We want to achieve a community that does not tolerate domestic abuse and that provides effective support to all of its victims (whether adults or children) whilst at the same time holding perpetrators to account. You should contact the police immediately on 999 if you are worried about your safety or the safety of someone else and you can also contact GHH.
We encourage tolerance of the differences that exist between individuals in our communities. In general, we do not consider cooking smells, the noise of children playing, minor disputes within and between households, one off parties, sounds from moving around the home and communal areas and other features of everyday life to be ASB. However, we can take account of time, frequency and impact of such matters and may investigate at our discretion.
We know that experiencing ASB can be very distressing so we want you to be able to report ASB to us quickly and easily so that we can try and resolve the issue efficiently.
You can report ASB to us in the following ways:
If there is a serious ASB incident where someone is at risk of harm, please contact 999 and ask for the relevant emergency service. In this case, if it is outside of GHH office hours, you should also contact the GHH emergency number on 0800 048 5705 and within office hours contact 01244 563 777.
If it is a non-emergency issue but you feel you need to report the incident to the police in addition to GHH, please call 101.
You should make sure you keep a record of any crime reference number you are given.
We know ASB can have a significant effect on the quality of life of individuals and can impact the welfare of communities as a whole.
We take a proactive person-centred approach to address ASB effectively as early as possible before it escalates and focus on finding a resolution. We work closely with key agencies, including the police and local authority community safety partnerships, to ensure our tenants live in homes that are safe and comfortable and feel supported when they report ASB.
We understand that GHH tenants will come from a variety of backgrounds, and this may at times impact on their ability to comply with the conditions of their tenancy, so in the first instance we will seek to understand how we can support perpetrators to reduce any ASB through a trauma informed approach, balancing the impact such behaviour has on the wider community and our legal and regulatory duties.
We will seek to avoid using formal action in the first instance, only resorting to this where cases escalate or where we cannot find an effective resolution.
The feedback and insights from our customers are crucial to us ensuring we can effectively address ASB and support our communities, so we will regularly engage with our tenants and use data and feedback from tenants and other partners to improve our management of ASB.
We will report on our ASB service and performance internally and to our Board, and also in accordance with the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing.
We know there might be reasons why you want to report ASB anonymously, including because you are fearful of retaliation by the perpetrator. However, we need to be able to contact you so we can establish the facts and act on your report. We will seek permission before we disclose your identity to other parties but in some cases, we will have a duty to report the incident to agencies including the police where there is a risk of harm or for the purpose of preventing crime.
After we receive a report of ASB, a GHH staff member will triage the report and if it is considered ASB, they categorise the reported ASB incident as either category 1 or category 2.
Category 1 incidents are serious incidents that require an urgent response because there is serious risk of harm to individuals. We will open all category 1 incidents within 1 working day of receiving the report. We will then develop an action plan on how to deal with the incident within 5 working days
Category 2 incidents do not involve an immediate threat of harm but can nonetheless cause annoyance and upset and impact people’s right to a peaceful life. We will open all category 2 incidents within 3 working days and produce an action plan on how to deal with the incident within 10 working days.
As part of our investigation, we will contact you to find out more information, so we better understand the issue. We may also signpost you to appropriate help and victim support if you need it.
In some cases, we’ll also help to put in place support for the alleged perpetrator to enable them to resolve their behaviour, joining up with external agencies where appropriate.
Once we have agreed an action plan with you, we will agree how often we will contact you and keep you up to date with the progress of your case.
Actions we may take could include:
We want to create a neighbourhood where everyone feels safe and welcome and where there is a strong sense of community.
You can help us to create a peaceful and harmonious community by:
As the landlord, we will commit to:
Criminal behaviour in or around our community will not be tolerated and will be taken very seriously. This includes using or dealing drugs, violent behaviour, vandalism, illegal money lending.
If you have a complaint about how we have dealt with an ASB case, you can find out how to submit a complaint here
To find out more about how we deal with ASB, you can find our ASB Policy here.