Antisocial behaviour is a pain and can be very hard to sort out.
It could be your tenants who are causing the problem or it could be neighbours causing the problem for you or your tenants.
Problem tenantsSo, how do you sort it out and what options are available for you?
Antisocial behaviour takes many forms. It could be loud noise, property damage, aggression – the list is endless.
It is bad because it can have a negative effect on your property and can lead to a bad relationship with neighbours so it is something that you have to act on fast.
The first thing is to talk through the matter with your tenants. There are always two sides to every story, so find out what they have to say. If allegations are made by a third party, try to talk to them too – and don’t rely on heresay.
Talk about the situation calmly and listen carefully to what they have to say.
Often just doing this will be enough as most good tenants will try to correct any bad behaviour not least because they are often not aware that their actions were affecting others.
By just talking you may find that the cause of the complaint is noise caused by an uncarpeted flat in which case the solution might be to install carpeting in the offending flat.
If antisocial behaviour continues and it is your tenants that are at fault you should consider taking action to evict.
Whether you tell them that you are ending the tenancy for reasons of antisocial behaviour is a choice you need to make. It could be that if the tenancy is nearing the end of the fixed term or if it is a periodic tenancy anyway and if no money was owed, you could simply give notice under Section 21 and follow the “accelerated route.”
This would mean that you would not need to give a reason for giving notice, which, if relations are strained, may be the best course of action.
Seeking help
There are other places you can seek help too.
The local Environmental health people at the council will be able to help if the tenant is making unreasonable noise or excessive littering.
If this is the case, unless you live close to the property it will be the neighbours who will need to inform them whenever the noise is excessive – so you need to make the neighbours aware that this course of action is open to them.
If the problem persists or is more serious you could get the local authority anti social behaviour team involved. Where they get involved they will usually expect a record to be kept so that enforcement action can start, based on the evidence of persistent wrong doing
The police can be involved and can prosecute if the problem is more serious – for example assault of a person, damage to property or racial abuse. They also have powers to shut down a property if it is being used by drug dealers. Police Community Support Officers can disperse people who gather outside a property and cause a nuisance.
ASBOs
It’s not possible to apply for someone else to be given an ASBO yourself. However, if the problem is serious and ongoing (with local authority and police agencies involved) you could request that the council of the police apply for it themselves.
Normally the affect of an ASBO is to stop the offender going to certain places or areas or stop them from doing whatever behaviour gave rise to the ASBO in the first place. This could include, for example, using foul language or making an excessive amount of noise.
Registered social landlords can also apply to a county court to have a tenancy replaced with a probationary one – this is often referred to as a “Demotion Order” Usually the probationary tenancy lasts for one year during which time the RSL would be hoping the tenants’ behaviour would improve. If not, the tenancy can be ended more swiftly.
Section 8 or 21
For most private landlords though the choice will be between evicting under the Housing Act using Sections 8 or Section 21.
However, landlords should be aware that eviction under antisocial behaviour using Section 8 is discretionary – i.e. the courts don’t have to grant possession to the landlord and you will need lots of evidence to prove your case (though the local authority might assist you with this, but don’t bank on it)
So, it’s for those reasons that many experts suggest it is often best waiting until the fixed term is ended or the tenancy has become periodic in which case you can evict under section 21 (the so called accelerated method) in which case you will always be given possession as long as your paperwork is in order. Plus you won’t need to attend a court hearing.
But remember, using Section 21 you won’t be able to claim for any unpaid rent which means Section 21 is really best for just evicting the tenant rather than recovering money. (Of course if the tenant is a man of straw your chances of ever recovering unpaid rent or money for damages is very small anyway).
Of course, if the tenant owes two or more months rent you could serve a Section 8 notice and claim at the same time for unpaid rent – but think hard if you will ever get the money back.
HMOs and Selective Licensing
Where a property is an HMO or if the area is Selectively Licensed the local authority will have more powers to get landlords to take action including the suspension of licenses of landlords who fail to take action.
Sign up for regular property updates & receive investments in your inbox
Daniel Peacock