Harrogate housing standards: anti-social behaviour

Our statement of intent

The council wants all our tenants and leaseholders to live in neighbourhoods and towns where people can live peacefully and enjoy life without the fear or crime or anti-social behaviour. 

How we aim to do this

The anti-social behaviour standard has been developed with a group of tenants and leaseholders who have expressed an interest in their neighbourhood. We have worked with tenants to decide on the local standard via a discussion group and written surveys to find out what their priorities are.

What is anti-social behaviour? 

Tenants have told us that they feel anti-social behaviour is something disruptive that has a direct impact on their lives. It makes people feel threatened and vulnerable. 
Harrogate Borough Council defines anti-social behaviour as:

• conduct that has caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person
• conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to the person’s occupation of their home
• conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person
• conduct that directly or indirectly affects our housing management function asper the Housing Act 1996

Harrogate Borough Council is committed as a landlord to take appropriate action to prevent and deal with incidents involving its tenants and leaseholders, either as victims or perpetrators of anti-social behaviour.

What is classed as anti-social behaviour?

Below are just a few examples of anti-social behaviour identified by tenants as part of consultation work carried out to develop this standard:

• damaging property
• excessive noise
• rubbish dumping / fly tipping
• abusive language
• graffiti 
• vandalism
• intimidation and harassment
• hate behaviour that targets members of identified groups because of their perceived differences
• actual or threatened violence against people and property
• the fouling of public areas / uncontrolled pets and animals
• using and selling drugs
• prostitution 

However, we realise that this list is not exhaustive and that tenants and leaseholders may experience other acts of anti-social behaviour. 

What we will do

We will:

1. Adhere to the processes and procedures identified in Harrogate Borough Council's anti-social behaviour policy and procedure statement, November 2016 and, in particular: 
   • categorise all complaints of anti-social behaviour according to their level of seriousness: 
     • high: behaviour that is a serious risk to individuals or the peace of the neighbourhood
     • medium: unreasonable and persistent noise nuisance often associated with vandalism and criminal damage to council property
     • low: disputes between neighbours resulting in disagreements
   • treat seriously all complaints and register on to our customer services database
   • respond within the following timeframes: 
     • high: initial action within one working day
     • medium: initial action within two to seven working days
     • low: initial action within seven working days
2. Give you the option to report anti-social behaviour by telephone, email, web enquiry, letter or in person with a member of the housing team or by coming into the Civic Centre. 
3. Receive and deal with complaints which are made on your behalf by a councillor, MP or by another agency. 
4. Listen to what you have to say and treat all cases seriously. 
5. Ensure that all criminal anti-social behaviour reported to the council is quickly passed on to the police. 
6. Keep you informed about what is happening with your case and, if the complaint is of a serious nature, contact you weekly using a method agreed with you for an update on behaviour and in order for our officers to provide support and further advice as required. 
7. Support you through your case. 
8. Fully investigate the complaint which may involve interviewing any alleged perpetrator and / or third party witnesses. 
9. Put you in touch with other agencies that can give you further advice and support such as the Independent Domestic Abuse Service, Victim Support, AA and Arch Resolution. 
10. Seek to reduce the fear of reprisals from perpetrators by using support services available that are appropriate to the individual including close liaison with the police. 
11. Provide information on anti-social behaviour in newsletters, the annual housing report and publicise incidents and outcomes. 
12. Ensure new tenants receive information on the council's anti-social behaviour policy statement, November 2016. 

What you can do 

What you can do for us: 

• keep a diary of all incidents
• consider all actions to help resolve the situation, for example, mediation
• reply to surveys we send out asking for feedback
• follow your responsibilities in your tenancy agreement
• make sure you tell us about anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood issues affecting your area 

How performance is monitored 

Performance information on anti-social behaviour cases will be reported to member of the Neighbourhood Services and Housing Needs Panel at their quarterly meetings from winter 2022. 

Contact us

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this standard, please contact us.