Duty of care by social landlord

[estellyn]

Hi,

 

I'm having some neighbour issues at the moment - loud music, aggressive and threatening behaviour. We're at the 'complain to landlord and council' stage.

 

My issue is this: It turns out that the previous tenant here was probably moved out due to the issues with this neighbour (possibly a management transfer), and we believe that there was also police involvement. The neighbour gloats that he 'saw them off (the previous tenants) and gave them what for'. The tenants had complained about the noise and the neighbour breached a court order just before we moved in and had his music system seized (actually he threw the music system out of the window when they came to enforce the order). BUT when we viewed the property, both the tenant and housing officer lied and said there were no noise issues.

 

We feel really angry about this and I've put in a complaint to the housing association about this issue - placing us - vulnerable disabled people next door to someone with known anti-social and aggressive behaviour, and lying when we asked about there being issues.

 

What duty of care does the HA have in this situation to new vulnerable tenants, when placing them? I know that when buying a house, any neighbour issues have to be disclosed - but where do social landlords stand with this?

 

Any advice anyone could offer would be great - as you can probably understand, we're pretty stressed about this at the moment.

[stu007]

Hi

 

From now please do not speak to them on the telephone (unless you have the facility to record your telephone calls) keep every thing in writing you need to keep a good paper trail and any letters you send ensure to get free proof of posting from the post office

 

How were you moved to the Property? (i.e house swap, medical Needs Reason, On Housing list for Appropriate size property)

 

You are doing the correct thing by raising this as a complaint especially if the HA.

 

Some Documents you may want to request from the Housing Association in your complaint letter:

 

1. Copy of Complaints Policy.

2. Copy of Equality Policy.

3. Copy of Customer Care Standards.

4. Copy of Allocation Policy.

5. Copy of Anti Social Behaviour Policy.

6. Copy of your Complete Housing Association File.

 

(When you get them read through them but just think of your experience and remember 'did they do that' as you read them and if not highlight that area and keep going and you will probably be surprised at what they should have done but didnt by there own policy and you then use those highlighted areas against them)

 

Remember to ask for these documents as part of a Formal Complaint to the HA and if they refuse to provide these lets us know and there excuse.

 

What I would also advise is to keep a written record of every single incident no matter how small with this tenant and each time it happens report it to (a) Housing Association Anti Social Behaviour Team (b) Local Councils Anti Social Behaviour Team © Your Local Police (do this for every single little incident and report to all 3 each time also keep a written record of it all)

 

This way you are building up a physical record of all the incidents and exactly who you have reported it to as evidence.

 

You could also contact your local police station and ask to speak to the Community Safety Officer to ask their advice with your present circumstances

 

This Incident Log PDF may be of use:

[mariner51]

"BUT when we viewed the property, both the tenant and housing officer lied and said there were no noise issues"

I sense your concern, but did HA actually lie?

Any property provider should provide details of currently known & reported problems. If T mentioned was resp for noise complaint, why would he also lie?

In the end response comes down to the type and wording of the questiotly havn.

Only recently have LLs had a specific s8 ground for antisocial behaviour without a prior conviction.

HA may have it's own written Policy for dealing withT ASB.

What final outcome do you seek?

[estellyn]

"BUT when we viewed the property, both the tenant and housing officer lied and said there were no noise issues"

I sense your concern, but did HA actually lie?

Any property provider should provide details of currently known & reported problems. If T mentioned was resp for noise complaint, why would he also lie?

In the end response comes down to the type and wording of the questiotly havn.

Only recently have LLs had a specific s8 ground for antisocial behaviour without a prior conviction.

HA may have it's own written Policy for dealing withT ASB.

What final outcome do you seek?

 

Yes, both the housing association and council had been informed on multiple occasions about noise nuisance leading to a noise abatement order from the Council which was breached by the tenant. The noisy tenant in question bragged that he had all sorts of problems with the previous tenants and 'the housing'. Not sure what counts as a conviction - he breached the noise abatement notice and was fined by the magistrates - does this count?

 

I can't understand some of the things you've written, maybe you could clarify?

[estellyn]

Hi

 

From now please do not speak to them on the telephone (unless you have the facility to record your telephone calls) keep every thing in writing you need to keep a good paper trail and any letters you send ensure to get free proof of posting from the post office

 

How were you moved to the Property? (i.e house swap, medical Needs Reason, On Housing list for Appropriate size property)

 

You are doing the correct thing by raising this as a complaint especially if the HA.

 

Some Documents you may want to request from the Housing Association in your complaint letter:

 

1. Copy of Complaints Policy.

2. Copy of Equality Policy.

3. Copy of Customer Care Standards.

4. Copy of Allocation Policy.

5. Copy of Anti Social Behaviour Policy.

6. Copy of your Complete Housing Association File.

 

(When you get them read through them but just think of your experience and remember 'did they do that' as you read them and if not highlight that area and keep going and you will probably be surprised at what they should have done but didnt by there own policy and you then use those highlighted areas against them)

 

Remember to ask for these documents as part of a Formal Complaint to the HA and if they refuse to provide these lets us know and there excuse.

 

What I would also advise is to keep a written record of every single incident no matter how small with this tenant and each time it happens report it to (a) Housing Association Anti Social Behaviour Team (b) Local Councils Anti Social Behaviour Team © Your Local Police (do this for every single little incident and report to all 3 each time also keep a written record of it all)

 

This way you are building up a physical record of all the incidents and exactly who you have reported it to as evidence.

 

You could also contact your local police station and ask to speak to the Community Safety Officer to ask their advice with your present circumstances

 

This Incident Log PDF may be of use:

 

Wow, do I need to report things to the police? I hate the idea of taking up their time. What sort of things should I be reporting to them?

 

I am keeping a diary of the loud music, and am going to add all of the other things. Earlier today he shouted in the lobby 'f'ing c**nts next door, f'ing calling the housing, I'll f'ing have you out', which I have reported to HA.

 

To answer question, we were moved in due to medical needs.

 

I like the idea of contacting the police community safety officer as I'm concerned things are going to get more aggressive

 

I just feel really angry that we were subjected to this if the HA knew there was a serious issue.

 

Thankyou so much for the advice.

[caro]

You say the previous tenant was moved out due to the noisy neighbour but i would have expected the HA to have taken steps to move your neighbour out for ASB.

[reallymadwoman]

Speak to the police community safety office and take advice as to what/when/how to report things to them - though if you have any concern that this neighbour is going to cause harm to you or your property, dial 999 immediately.

You may find the PCSO more forthcoming regarding previous reports than housing.

[estellyn]

You say the previous tenant was moved out due to the noisy neighbour but i would have expected the HA to have taken steps to move your neighbour out for ASB.

 

My understanding is that the noisy neighbour counter accused of racism - when he told us about this last year we were sympathetic and thought that maybe he had been difficult with us due to his experience with the previous tenant.....that was until he threatened us with 'having us done for racism' if I complained about the noise, which obviously made us view the situation very differently.

 

We've put together what happened with the previous tenants from bits of information we have from different sources, and requested clarification from the HA plus an explanation as to why we were moved into this situation - we're considered vulnerable tenants with medical needs, and it was really inappropriate.

 

Someone else asked what we want out of this. We just want the loud music to stop and no more aggression from the neighbour - apart from that we're happy living here and were willing to put up with the other stuff (weed smell coming across into our flat, the shouting, swearing and screeching in the lobby). But the neighbour's past history suggest that isn't going to happen - he's previously been to court and this hasn't stopped him. There may not be any way around it except someone being moved, and we'd prefer it was the neighbour. However, we don't know what other issues there are - like if he has mental health issues or learning difficulties, or if he does counter with an accusation of racism as he's threatened (the only personal insults and bad language have been from him).

 

It's very frustrating, we're easy to live next to - we're very quiet, we keep to ourselves but we're friendly in passing in the lobby. We said to the neighbour that we understand he'd sometimes want to have parties, and to let us know when the music would end by and we'd have no issues. We've tried our best to be understanding.

[estellyn]

Speak to the police community safety office and take advice as to what/when/how to report things to them - though if you have any concern that this neighbour is going to cause harm to you or your property, dial 999 immediately.

You may find the PCSO more forthcoming regarding previous reports than housing.

 

Thanks we'll try that.

 

Husband was angry with me a few weeks ago, as neighbour was aggressive and I neither called the police or my husband who was visiting his father who's very ill. I pride myself in coping with things and as there was at that point a locked door between us, though I was upset, I wasn't in imminent danger. But if I were in danger, I would definitely call them, or of course if he made direct threats. At the moment the threats he's made are mostly non specific - 'I'll f'ing get you out', or 'I'll f'ing sort you out'.

[mikeymack2002]

You must always follow procedure and keep a diary of events and how they affect your household, the tenant causing the issues could end up with an antisocial behaviour contract known as an (ABC) thus is issued by the LA and Police to stop ASB issues, if they fail to keep to the agreement the tenant could be evicted for breaching this order/agreement.

 

 

You should do the following each time this happens

 

 

1. Cal/email the landlord

2. Call/email the Council environmental team make a report

3. Get reference number from both departments.

 

 

Keep a diary for each issue and how it has affected you details of time started/ended, levels, and so on most of all how this has made you/household feel, also if you happen to have a visitor that is prepared to add to your diary then they should. You can always then apply to the Court yourself under the Environmental Act and take them to Court yourself, not as expensive as you may think. A letter the your landlord stating that you are considering taking personal action again the tenant and making the Court aware the possible failings of the LA/Council, see this link >> http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=305

[reallymadwoman]

If you could record the shouting and threats, however vague, that would also be helpful. If you have a mobile, they usually have a voice recorder which will pick up quite a lot.