Anti-social Behaviour (ASB)

Anti-social behaviour has been defined as "Any behaviour that causes nuisance or annoyance to someone".

Commmon types of ASB

• Noise
  Loud music, shouting and arguing, dogs barking etc.
• Violence
  Using or threatening to use violence, or any kind of intimidating behaviour. This might be physical violence such as stone-throwing or non-physical violence such as verbal abuse.
• Domestic Violence
  Violence against a partner or family member
• Harrasment
  Any form of harassment, including harassment due to race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief.
• Criminal Acts
  Using a home for criminal or illegal purposes. Other criminal damage and vandalism, including graffiti.
• Uncontrolled Animals
  Stray or dangerous animals, or animals fouling public spaces.
• Misuse of Public Areas
  Many different types of behaviour including: Alcohol or drug abuse, joy-riding, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping or untidy gardens.

What can be done?

If possible, it is always best to try to sort out the problem yourself.

Try talking to your neighbour and discuss your concerns with them in a reasonable and polite manner.

Most neighbours will respond to a reasonable request and it is better to approach them first and try to work things out between you.

If this approach doesn't work, or you feel unable or are frightened to talk to your neighbour, contact your housing officer who will try to help you.

What happens then?

Your housing officer will agree a plan of action with you. We will keep you informed of the progress we make and any decisions we take.

We will always do our best to deal with incidents in a positive way so that you don't experience further problems.

What action can Yorkshire Housing take?

There are a number of steps we can take, but what we do depends on how bad the anti-social behaviour is and how much evidence we have.

Actions that we can take range from issuing the perpetrator an informal warning to taking steps to evict them.

More help with ASB

Some types of anti-social behaviour are actually crimes and should be reported to your local police.

If you think your neighbour is involved in crime, you should contact the police.

You should also contact the police if you are threatened.

If you don't want to speak to the Police directly, you can give information anonymously by contacting crimestoppers

Some types of anti-social behaviour are dealt with by your local council

Your local Environmental Health Service may be able to help you if you have a problem with unreasonable noise such as loud music, dogs barking constantly or air pollution from bonfires or burning rubbish.

Environmental Health is part of your local council, you can find their telephone number in the phone book.