Tips on tackling antisocial behaviour

If you are suffering from antisocial behaviour, here are a few things you can do to help cope with the situation. These tips will also help us deal with the situation if we get involved.

Speak to the person responsible

If you are having problems with a neighbour, your first step should be to talk to them yourself. By talking to your neighbour you may be able to sort things out straight away, without having to do anything else.

If we get involved too early, your neighbour may feel threatened and this may make the situation worse.

If you have suffered violent behaviour or harassment from your neighbour, or if you feel threatened by them in any way, do not try to sort things out yourself. In these circumstances, please contact us or the police.

Stay calm

You should talk to you neighbour in a calm and reasonable way, explaining exactly what is causing a problem. It will be helpful if you describe the problem clearly (giving times, dates and what happened) and explain how it affects you and your family.

Try not to shout or lose your temper with your neighbour. This can make things worse and could lead to action being taken against you. Try to think how you would like to be approached if someone had a problem with something you were doing.

Keep an open mind. Your neighbour may not be aware they are causing you a nuisance and hopefully will be able to sort things out.

Do not retaliate

We appreciate this is a very difficult time and you may be very angry and frustrated. However, please do not take any action against your neighbour. Retaliation will weaken your case, and will limit or stop any action we may be able to take. Your neighbour may also make a claim against you.

Ask for help

If talking to your neighbour does not stop the problem, contact us. We will talk to you about the problems you are having and discuss how we are able to help, and may speak to your other neighbours to see if they are affected by the nuisance too.

We may put you in touch with a ‘mediation service’ who will try to help you and your neighbour settle your differences.

Mediation is usually the best option in these circumstances. It can help someone realise they are causing a problem and help stop.

We may also put you in touch with the police or an Environmental Health Team. If we do this, we can work with these other agencies to help sort out any problems.

Keep a diary of incidents

If mediation does not work and the behaviour continues, we will consider legal action and enforcing the tenancy or lease agreement. We cannot take legal action without your help and support. This will involve you keeping a written record of incidents, or using a small tape recorder to describe the incident, and making a note of all dates and times to use as evidence. Please contact us for a copy of our incident diary book to record the antisocial behaviour or download one from the main ‘Antisocial behaviour’ page.

Get more help

Other agencies also deal with antisocial behaviour. You can report incidents directly to other agencies if you want, or get advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or an independent legal advisor.

View contact details of agencies that can help.