Anti-Social Behaviour

Everyone should feel safe in their home and their community, and we all have a part to play in achieving this.

Most disagreements that happen between neighbours can be resolved by speaking to each other, with some understanding and consideration of one another.

There may be times when anti-social behaviour (ASB) is more serious and in these cases, we will work with you to find a resolution to tackle the problems created by nuisance and ASB. Your Neighbourhood Housing Officer will investigate every report of neighbour nuisance and be available to give advice. We will find informal solutions where possible and where appropriate, more serious action will be taken and we will work with other partners to help tackle it.

We can assure any current or future tenants that we will not tolerate anti-social behaviour. We work with partners to help us prevent and resolve anti-social behaviour, this includes Wirral ASB Team, Merseyside Police and local community safety teams. When necessary, we will issue Injunctions, ASBOs, Demoted Tenancy Orders, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and evictions to deal with neighbours that cause a nuisance. Evicting someone is the last resort that we can only consider in the most serious of cases.

You can report a case or seek advice from Prima Group if you are affected by Anti-Social Behaviour on our Customer App, by calling us or using the Contact Us page to get in touch.

What is ASB?

Nuisance and Anti-Social Behaviour are defined as behaviour which disturbs the peaceful enjoyment of another, either directly in the form of ‘harassment’ – where one or several individuals select a specific individual as a target for nuisance behaviour, or generally, where disturbance can be caused by individuals or groups in a locality that presents a disruption to the lives of others.

What should you do if you are suffering from ASB?

Once we receive your complaint, we will log it and begin our investigation. It does help if we have detailed evidence of times, dates and names (if possible) so we would urge you to keep a record of all incidences of anti-social behaviour you witness, the easiest way to do this is using the ASB reporting form on the Prima Customer App.

For cases where noise from neighbours is causing a nuisance, we will ask you to use the Noise App to record the noise, this is great at capturing evidence of the problem as it tells us what happened and when.

What happens with more serious ASB cases?

Dealing with ASB can be complex and take time to resolve. We will keep you updated throughout the investigation, and you will be able to contact your Neighbourhood Housing Officer for progress reports. Where a case is more serious we work in partnership with the Wirral ASB Team they are ASB specialist and help us with the investigation and manage any legal action that may be needed. We will also work with any other partners locally who can help us resolve cases, such as other housing associations, the local council, community safety groups and Merseyside Police.

The Community Trigger is a process which allows members of the community to ask the Liverpool Community Safety Partnership to review how they have responded to reports of anti-social behaviour and is used to escalate unresolved anti-social behaviour issues.

The trigger is designed to ensure we work together to try and resolve any complaints and is a means of reviewing how agencies have responded to your complaints.

Where the trigger threshold is met, the partnership will consider how the complaints have been dealt with and whether agencies have followed their processes for dealing with your complaints. You can find out more about the Community Trigger on Liverpool City Council's website here.

ASB Guide

  • Noise

    Noise

    We can all expect to hear daily ‘living noise’ from our neighbours. In most cases, this wouldn’t be classed as ASB and we would ask you to speak to your neighbour first if they are disturbing you - often they don’t realise it’s causing any issues.

    We ask all residents to be considerate of those around them and do what they can to limit noise from their homes. This could include:

    • using rugs on floors if you live above someone else

    • keeping music and television noise on low volume

    • limit more noisy activities to times when they’ll be less of a nuisance

    We consider noise to be anti-social when it is happening regularly and persistently. Noise at unsociable hours, after 11pm and before 7am can also be more anti-social, but this would depend on the type of noise it is. A one-off party may cause disturbance but may not be something we would investigate unless it was happening regularly.

    To help us investigate noise nuisance we usually ask customers to collect evidence using the Noise App, so we can assess the best way to challenge the behaviour further. It’s free to download and easy to use and your Neighbourhood Housing Officer can help show you how to do this. You can find out more here.

  • Criminal Activity

    Criminal Activity

    Incidents of serious criminal activity do not happen very often, however, when they do it is important that you report them to Merseyside Police. Always call 999 in an emergency.

    When we are aware of criminal activity we will act quickly and will work alongside our partners, where they have more powers and are able to take more effective action than we can.

    We will work with Merseyside Police if you are the victim of a crime that has happened in your community or if you share details with us of a crime that you have witnessed.

    Our more serious ASB cases are escalated to Wirral ASB Team, who are a specialist team able to investigate cases and liaise with Merseyside Police on our behalf. In the most extreme cases, this has resulted in Closure Orders being granted and also evictions, due to the seriousness of the activities taking place.

    Where there are repeated incidents of ASB reported to the police, social landlords or local authorities and it is felt that the response has not addressed the concerns raised, a Community Trigger process can be requested. Further details can be found here.

  • Graffiti & Fly-Tipping

    Graffiti & Fly-Tipping

    We all want to live in a neighbourhood we can be proud of, keeping it clean and tidy helps us feel better about where we live.

    If you see graffiti or any damage such as broken windows or fly-tipping you can take a picture of it and send it to us through the Prima Customer App, use the online Contact Us form or phone us and let us know.

    We aim to remove any offensive graffiti within 48 hours.

    If a neighbour has left rubbish near their or your property please speak to them to see if they are planning to remove it. If it remains and continues to cause a nuisance please contact us and we will deal with it.

    Vehicle registration numbers can be helpful in identifying those who fly-tip. We can share this information with the local authorities to challenge fly-tippers. If we know who is responsible, we will support the police in seeking financial compensation against them. We will also consider taking measures to keep them away from the area or taking action under the tenancy agreement if they live in a Prima Group home.

  • Drugs and Cuckooing

    Drugs & Cuckooing

    You should always report the use of illegal drugs to the police. You can call 101 where it is a non-emergency or online here. Always call 999 in an emergency. When you report nuisance from drug misuse it is important to give as much information as possible. This would include:

    • Who is using the drugs?

    • Where and when it is happening

    • Is there a strong smell of drugs outside a particular door?

    • Have you seen anyone using drugs at a particular area or address?

    • How is it affecting you? For example, are you being disturbed by visitors to the property?

    We will work with the police to deal with this.

    Cuckooing is when a drug dealer takes advantage of a vulnerable person and takes over a property. They then use the property for their drug dealing activity. If you are concerned that this may be happening to a neighbour, please let us and the police know straight away. We will work together to take the right action.

  • Domestic Abuse

    Domestic Abuse

    Domestic abuse is where threatening or controlling behaviour, abuse or violence occurs between people who are, or have been, family members or partners.

    You may not want your abuser to see what you are viewing on the internet - if you are disturbed, click here and you will be taken to the BBC News website.

    Domestic abuse covers behaviour or threats of an emotional, financial, sexual or psychological nature. It can affect everyone. It can happen regularly or occasionally, it is rarely a one-off and a pattern tends to appear over time. You do not have to be physically assaulted for it to be domestic abuse. It is not the person being abused’s fault. We are here to help.

    You can tell us about it in confidence, if you are the victim or if you are reporting it on behalf of someone else.

    We will work closely with those being abused, discussing with them what we can do to keep them and any children safe. We can provide extra security to homes, if needed, and agree on a plan of how we can help - either by supporting you to stay at home or advising you on how to leave and secure emergency housing.

  • Hate Crime, Verbal Abuse & Harassment

    Hate Crime, Verbal Abuse & Harassment

    Hate crime is an offence motivated by someone’s hatred of people who they see as different. This could be because of the persons:

    • race, ethnicity or nationality

    • sexuality

    • religion or belief

    • gender identity or transgender

    • health, disability or mental health

    The type of incident could be threats or harassment, verbal abuse, damage to property, bullying, vandalism and intimidation.

    We will take any reports of hate crime very seriously and will deal robustly with any residents in our properties who carry out hate crimes. This could include injunctions and other legal interventions. We will support you and look to work with other agencies, such as the police or specialist support organisations, to put in place measures that keep you safe.

  • Safeguarding

    Safeguarding

    We want our customers to live in a safe environment, so we have robust safeguarding processes in place so we can react quickly to any concerns we receive about the welfare of children or adults who need support.

    Safeguarding is where we take action to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from harm.

    If you have any immediate concerns for the safety of a child or vulnerable adult you should call 999.

    Local authorities have a duty of care towards children who are at risk. You can report concerns to them. They will want to know about any concerns you have, and you should contact them providing as much detail as possible. Where we need to be involved, we will work alongside social services teams to support families.

    You can also contact your local authority if you have concerns about any adult who has vulnerabilities. When you tell us about this, we will look to contact the person and see how we can best support them, this may involve us contacting other agencies who have more expertise in providing support.

  • Pets

    Pets

    We know how much pets become part of the family for many customers, but they can sometimes cause problems between neighbours.

    Your tenancy agreement will say if you are allowed to have pets and if you need to ask for permission from us before getting them. In some properties, pets aren’t allowed, so it’s always better to check with us first.

    Dogs - some barking is normal and wouldn’t be considered anti-social unless it was causing a persistent nuisance. We expect pet owners to be mindful of their neighbours, by keeping them under control in shared areas, picking up their waste and keeping the time they’re left at home alone to a minimum.

    If your neighbours’ pets are causing a nuisance, please speak to them about it. If things do not improve, then get in touch with us. Some dog breeds are classified as dangerous, and any dog which is aggressive should be reported to the police. If you report an incident, please let us know and we will work together with the police where further action is needed.

    If you have concerns about pets that may be being mistreated, please contact the RSPCA online or call 0300 1234 999.