Supporting those
affected by anti-social
behaviour
What is anti-social behaviour?
It is behaviour that unreasonably interferes
with other people’s rights to the use and
enjoyment of their home and community. It
ranges from serious acts of violence and
harassment to issues such as barking dogs or
overgrown gardens affecting the quality of life
for individuals and communities. Anti-social
behaviour includes, but is not limited to:
 Noise nuisance
 Verbal abuse/ harassment/ intimidation/
threatening behaviour
 Vandalism and damage to property
 Pets and animal nuisance
 Nuisance from vehicles
 Drugs/ substance misuse/ drug dealing
 Alcohol-related nuisance
 Physical violence
 Litter/ rubbish/ fly-tipping
 Garden nuisance
 Misuse of communal areas/ public spaces
or loitering
 Prostitution/ sexual acts/ kerb crawling
 Other criminal behaviour
 Illegal and immoral use of premises
Dealing with anti-social behaviour
The responsibility for tackling anti-social
behaviour is shared by individuals, Orbit, other
organisations and local authorities who work in
partnership to gather information and evidence
and provide support.
Local authorities have a range of powers to
help address anti-social behaviour. In many
cases they can assist with investigation and
have statutory powers to take action against:
 Noise nuisance
 Abandoned vehicles
 Dumped rubbish and fly tipping
 Graffiti and fly posting
 Damage to public property
What can you do?
If the person causing the problem is usually
reasonable and you feel comfortable
approaching them, try talking to them.
Remember, they may not realise their actions
are disturbing you. Make sure you are polite
and calm. Tell them how their behaviour is
affecting you and suggest ways of resolving
the issue. Try to reach a compromise.
When talking to your neighbour:
1. Describe the problem clearly
2. Explain how it affects you and your family,
rather than just complaining about it
3. Stay calm and don’t argue or shout
4. Ask if anything you are doing is causing
nuisance or is annoying
5. Be prepared to negotiate. Your neighbour
may have difficulties you don’t know about.
6. Treat problems as something you can solve
together
Alternatively, you can complete a Dear
Neighbour card (available from your local
Housing team) and post it through the
neighbour’s letterbox. This is anonymous and
lets them know their behaviour is disturbing
you.
If the issue involves harassment,
intimidation, actual or threatened violence
or makes you feel vulnerable you should
contact us and the Police straight away.
What to do if the problem continues
If talking to/contacting the person responsible
has made no difference, you can call us to
discuss how to deal with the situation.
When you report anti-social behaviour you will
need to tell us:
 What happened and where
 When and how often it has happened
 Who is affected and how
 Why do you believe the behaviour
happens
 If any action has already been taken and
by who
 What action you want to see taken
 Any support you would like/need
We will complete a risk assessment with you to
allow us to assess the risk level and
seriousness of the incident. Generally, if the
incident involves violence or threats of violence
it will become a Category A priority and you will
be contacted within 24 hours of making your
report. All other incidents will be given a
Category B priority and we will contact you
within 3 days.
Once the situation has been assessed we will
agree an action plan with you, confirm what
you need to do yourself, what we can do to
help and what else needs to happen.
You may need to complete incident diary
sheets, detailing all the incidents of anti-social
behaviour. These are important as we require
a written record of what is happening to assess
the impact it is having on your household and
the neighbourhood. A record of every incident
should be made immediately or as soon after
the event as possible. Your Housing team can
assist you if you need help completing these.
You may be required to report the incidents to
other agencies such as Police, local authority
or Crime Reduction Partnership.
What will Orbit do?
This depends on the seriousness and type of
anti-social behaviour. If the problem is mildly
serious we may issue warning letters to remind
people of their responsibilities and
consequences of unacceptable behaviour.
If the problem can be solved by a discussion
between you and the other party we may refer
you both to mediation. Mediation is often a
very successful method of resolving problems.
The mediation service will talk to you about
their service before they talk to the other party.
They can act without two parties meeting. If
you agree to a meeting this can be held in a
suitable place and will be managed by an
independent person. This person will
encourage all parties to air their views and
listen to all concerns before suggesting a way
forward. All information supplied during
meetings is private and will not be shared.
However, if either party fails to keep to any
agreement made or there are further acts of
anti-social behaviour the mediation can be
used as part of the evidence required to take
legal action. Mediation service is free. Please
note that all parties must be willing to take part
in this service.
Other action Orbit will consider taking
If the incidents are ongoing or more serious we
may take one or more of the following actions:
 Issue warning letters & make visits
 Use covert surveillance to gain additional
evidence
 Make safety & security improvements to
your home or the local area
 Issue an Acceptable Behaviour Contract
(ABC)
 Referral to Support or other agencies
 Referral to Community Safety
Partnerships
 Multi-Agency meetings
 Extension or failure of Starter Tenancies
 Issue Injunctions
 Serve a Notice of Seeking Possession
 Start Possession Proceedings
What you can expect from us? We will:
 Make an initial assessment of your case
 Carry out an agreed Action Plan
 Treat your reports in confidence and
discuss any action to be taken with you
before carrying it out
 Advise you what action we can take if you
wish to remain anonymous
 Keep in regular contact with you as agreed
 Work with a variety of statutory and
voluntary agencies such as the Police,
Environmental Health, Community Safety
Partnership, Social Services, Mental
Health, and Victim Support who may be
able to assist
 Carry out regular reviews of your case and
contact you to discuss progress
Confidentiality and information sharing
All reports will be treated confidentially.
Anti-social behaviour can be difficult to prove
and it may not always be possible to get a
positive outcome. It is important you continue
to report all incidents you experience.
In an emergency or to report a crime in
progress please call 999.
Supporting victims
Orbit recognises that encouraging people to
act as witnesses can be difficult. We
understand the distress and fear that antisocial behaviour can cause and supporting you
when you report incidents is key to our
approach for dealing with issues.
If we ask you to act as a witness in court we
will give you guidance and support.
We aim to:
 Provide you with contact telephone
numbers that can provide support
 Address any requirements you may have
e.g. language or mobility needs
 Work with Police to provide personal
attack alarms or home panic alarms
where necessary
 Explain the court procedure, timeframes
and possible outcomes to you
 Offer to show you around the Court to
familiarise you with the layout
 Offer help with travel to Court and food
expenses
 Attend court with you and stay with you
throughout the process
Please let your Housing Officer know if you
need help.
When working with other agencies we will
share relevant and required information as and
when appropriate which helps to tackle antisocial behaviour effectively. We follow the
national support framework on information
sharing for community safety guidelines laid
down by the Home Office.
How to report anti-social behaviour to us:
 Visit the Report It or My Account areas of
our website www.orbit.org.uk
 Email us [email protected]
 Call us 0345 8 500 500
 Visit your local office
For non-urgent crimes please call 101.
Common Myths
Anything I find annoying is anti-social behaviour
You must always try to remember and understand differences in lifestyles and cultures of others.
Ask yourself whether the behaviour is genuinely distressing to you and/or others or is it just
annoying because it’s different or irritating?
Everyday noise (e.g. doors closing, vacuuming, talking etc) is not considered a nuisance unless it‘s
deliberately done to cause annoyance or there is evidence that it is occurring at an unacceptably
high sound level and rate.
Orbit is responsible for the behaviour of its residents
We have a responsibility to respond to and deal with anti-social behaviour and to try and resolve all
reported cases as effectively as possible. We are not responsible for the behaviour of our residents.
I’m not responsible for the behaviour of my children or visitors
You are responsible for the behaviour of every person, regardless of age, living in or visiting your
property. We can take action against you even if nuisance is being caused by your visitors, children
or somebody else living in your home.
I only have to be quiet after 11pm
Noise can be considered as anti-social at any time of day or night if it affects others
I’ve reported it once so that’s enough
For Orbit to take action we need as much evidence as possible so using diary sheets to record every
time something happens is really important. Enforcement or legal action cannot be taken without
substantiated evidence.
Orbit should just evict people who cause anti-social behaviour
Evicting someone from their home is always a last resort and only considered in very serious cases.
We will always explore all other options first. Our priority is to do everything we can to resolve
problems before taking court action.
The court process can be a very long one and there is no guarantee that the outcome will result in
an eviction.