All Case Studies

Antisocial behaviour & request for rehousing (February 2024)

Summary

Since September 2021, Mr. P reported antisocial behaviour issues—drug use, loud parties, and dog fouling by his neighbour. We responded by issuing warning letters, arranging a visit, and instructing Mr P to report the drug use to the police and their out-of-hours team.

Between March and September 2022, Mr. P faced ongoing disturbances. In May 2022, water from Mr. P’s balcony dripped onto his neighbour’s, leading to a verbal altercation. Mr. P recorded threats of physical assault made by the neighbour. Following this, we issued a verbal warning, and implemented an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement (ABA) with the neighbour.

We maintained regular communication and offered mediation with Mr. P, who reported ongoing drug use by the neighbour in July 2022. Despite advising Mr. P to continue reporting incidents to the police and issuing of a warning letter, Mr P remained dissatisfied with the ongoing issues and the impact it was having on their family.

Despite Mr. P providing evidence of the perpetrator breaching the ABA, three times, our ability to investigate was limited, advising that it be escalated to Police. Nonetheless, Mr. P expressed discontent, questioning our support, and expressing a lack of seriousness from us in addressing the issues in both June and August 2022.

In August 2022, following additional reports of incidents by Mr. P, the police served ASB letter to the neighbour. In our stage 1 complaint response, we outlined that the issue of dog barking fell outside the remit of ASB. In September 2022, Mr. P reported further incidents, including the perpetrator obstructing access points with a motorbike, and expressing concern over threatening behaviour.

In November 2022, a Stage 2 panel review meeting was scheduled where it was determined that despite the ABA being unsigned, it could still serve as evidence in legal proceedings. However, efforts to prevent the issues from continuing did not prove successful, and we were not able to assist as the police did not act initially from Mr P’s reports. We expressed regret for not conducting an inspection and offered £100 compensation but rejected compensation for the impact of the antisocial behaviour on Mr. P’s family as requested.

Mr. P, dissatisfied with the outcome, lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman.

 

Outcome

The following determinations were made:

• The resident’s complaint about rehousing is outside the Ombudsman’s Jurisdiction
• There was maladministration in respect to our response to the resident’s reports of the antisocial behaviour

Orders

The Ombudsman made the following orders:

• Confirm the action plan the antisocial behaviour of 2022 with the resident and outline the steps Mr P can take to report any ongoing antisocial behaviour
• Pay the resident £400 compensation for the inconvenience caused by our failure to respond promptly to the reports
• Conduct a risk assessment for the ongoing antisocial behaviour considering the vulnerabilities of the household