ASB legal action management overview
Social landlords have a number of powers at their disposal to deal with tenants who exhibit anti-social behaviour; a term which covers a disparate and broad range of conduct from tensions between neighbours to violent and intimidatory behaviour. It is common for social landlords to include a clause in their tenancy agreements stating that the landlord "will take all reasonable steps to prevent any nuisance" and the regulatory framework requires registered providers to work in partnership with other public agencies to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhoods where they own homes. As a matter of good practice, social landlords will typically consider a range of options to address instances of anti-social behaviour before embarking upon action to terminate a tenancy, including:
Eviction is the ultimate sanction against tenants who exhibit anti-social behaviour and there are specific grounds upon which a court may grant an order for possession against a tenant: (a) they have been guilty of conduct which is, or is likely to cause, a nuisance or annoyance to a person residing, visiting or otherwise engaged in lawful activity in the locality, or (b) have been convicted of using the residential property (or allowing it to be used) for immoral or illegal purposes, or an arrestable offence. In such cases of anti-social behaviour, a social landlord can serve a Notice of Seeking Possession (NOSP) on a tenant and start proceedings immediately. This is an official notification that the landlord intends to seek possession of the tenant's property and will be served prior to making an application to the court. Where the tenant fails to comply, an eviction warrant can be obtained, authorising a bailiff to return possession of the residential premises back to the social landlord.
Designed to address anti-social behaviour in a huge range of different circumstances, an order ('ASBO') can be implemented involving any offender in any kind of housing. ASBOs can help protect members of a community from those people who insist on making the lives of others a misery, but who may not be successfully prosecuted through just one single incident of inappropriate behaviour. An ASBO is a civil order - a sanction - that imposes restrictions on individual liberty for a minimum period of two years, and can result in a jail sentence of up to five years if the terms are breached.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of ASB legal action management, including: