As we navigate through these unprecedented times, we know that many victims of anti-social behaviour (ASB) will be feeling worried and unsure of where to turn as many agencies are re-deploying colleagues to help customers in other ways.
As housing associations, we need to ensure we are adapting our services to reflect the situation. At a time of so much uncertainty in all aspects of our lives, it’s never been more important that our customers have confidence in our ability to deal with anti-social behaviour that will only serve to further detriment their health and wellbeing.
Expecting an increase in anti-social behaviour
Following on from the Government’s announcement, a high volume of households now remain at home, so what could this mean?
- Increase in noise nuisance
- Households flouting the ‘stay at home’ policy
- More people feeling isolated and anxious
- Money worries putting a strain on families and individuals
- People becoming intolerant as they struggle to adapt to a new, albeit temporary, way of life
- A reduction in support services as key agencies are diverted elsewhere
Adapting our service in the face of COVID-19
Covid-19 has made us think about how we can adapt our services when tackling ASB. We are now focussing on telephone or email contact with our customers and will continue to be guided by our ASB procedure for case management. Although our investigations will be different, we are committed to doing the following:
- Work with other agencies
- Signpost customers to our specialised victim support or our assessment and mediation service
- Signpost perpetrators to support services
- Offer access to the Noise App if needed
- Increase contact with vulnerable customers
- Encourage the use of technology to record ASB if it is safe to do so
- Signpost to our website to log ASB to ease the pressure on customer services
- Issue verbal warnings over the telephone and written warnings via email
- Produce Good Neighbour Agreements or Acceptable Behaviour Contracts by email providing verbal consent has been given
- Issue Notice of Seeking Possession for breaches of tenancy
- Apply for Injunctions in the most serious cases
- Share best practice with other housing providers
This pandemic provides a unique set of challenges and as a housing provider, we must do what we can, using the tools available to us, to tackle ASB and help to support our customers during these difficult times.