Luton Borough Council

Antisocial behaviour - by, or against, council tenants

Help is available

If you're a council tenant experiencing antisocial behaviour, or if a council tenant is carrying out antisocial behaviour against you, we're able to work with other agencies to sort the problem out.

Working together means we can often get more done, more quickly. We also have powers that we can use to stop the behaviour.

What is antisocial behaviour?

Some examples of antisocial behaviour by, or against, council tenants which you might experience are:

nuisance neighbours
harassment or threats
people dealing in, and buying, drugs on council housing land
people dumping rubbish and abandoning cars
vandalism and graffiti

Hoarding is an increasing problem and, although it can be hidden, it's still antisocial behaviour if it affects other residents. It can also put the hoarder and others who live with them at risk, so if you suspect someone is hoarding, please get in touch with us.

Vulnerable or ‘at risk’ people tend to be more likely victims of antisocial behaviour, and sometimes this can be a form of abuse. If at any time you think that a person is at risk of being abused or exploited, please contact our Safeguarding Adults team.

Click here to find out more about abuse, including how to report it.

Even if the antisocial behaviour doesn't take place on council land, or the antisocial behaviour has not been by a council tenant, we can usually still take action if it affects council tenants or council property. We may act in partnership with other agencies to do this such as the police.

Antisocial behaviour by council tenants

There are a number of legal ways that we can deal with antisocial behaviour caused by council tenants - from informal interventions such as an acceptable behaviour contract, to legal ones such as injunctions or evictions.

An injunction can prevent someone from being in a specific area, or prevent them from carrying out a particular type of antisocial behaviour in a particular location.

For example, an injunction could:

prevent a person from being in a particular street
require them to keep a specific distance away from someone
stop them from abusive or violent towards someone

If you think someone might be the victim of abusive behaviour, you should contact your tenancy officer or speak to our Safeguarding Adults team.

Click here for more information about the different types of abuse and how you can report it.

Avoiding legal action

Not all complaints about antisocial behaviour go as far as legal action; many are solved by talking through the problem with those responsible or by involving another agency. Sometimes people don’t realise that they're causing problems to their neighbours.

Luton Mediation can help you to settle a disagreement between you and your neighbour. Two trained mediators meet with the parties in a safe and neutral environment to listen to how both parties see the problem.

They help the parties look at possible ways of improving the situation without having to go to court - this can often be quicker, less stressful and less costly to the individuals. Over 90 per cent of mediation agreements are successful. To find out more about this contact your tenancy officer by emailing [email protected].

Noise nuisance

Noise nuisance should be reported to our Environmental Protection Service as they are specialists at dealing with noise, you can contact them on 01582 510330.

Click here if you're suffering from noise nuisance and would like more information.

If we have enough evidence against a council tenant making noise nuisance, we can evict them.

If you're a council tenant and you've received a noise abatement notice, we may start a legal process to evict you.

Report a noise problem

How to report antisocial behaviour

If you want to report antisocial behaviour which doesn't involve council properties or tenants, please click the non council tenants link below.

If you're not sure, please contact us and we can redirect you to the correct team if necessary.

Illegal and criminal activity such as violence and drugs should be reported to the police by dialling 101 or in an emergency by dialling 999.

Antisocial behaviour which is both criminal and also involves tenants - such as serious harassment, verbal abuse, intimidation or threats - can be reported:

to the police
also to us on the contact information below
by clicking the 'report antisocial behaviour (council tenants only)' link above and filling in the form.

We treat all reports about antisocial behaviour in confidence.

Contact info

Customer service centre
Luton Borough Council, Town Hall, Luton, LU1 2BQ
Tel: 01582 547304