Antisocial behaviour

If your quality of life is badly affected by other people in your community then you could be a victim of antisocial behaviour. We have experience of supporting people dealing with:

• noise nuisance
• neighbour disputes
• verbal abuse
• threatening behaviour
• harassment and intimidation
• vandalism
• criminal damage.

You might think that an incident is small or unimportant to start with, but antisocial behaviour can go on for a long time, and become very serious. Not all antisocial behaviour is classed as crime but a lot is, or can become a crime. We can help you even if the police are not involved, but nothing will change if you don’t take action. You may not know how to do this, but we can give you the information and support you need to change things.

Anyone can experience antisocial behaviour and it can affect you in many ways. You may find that:

• you can’t sleep
• you feel anxious and constantly on edge
• you are frightened to go out
• you don’t feel safe in your own home
• your children are upset
• you change your routine to avoid problems
• you want to move
• you can’t talk to anyone about it
• you feel you must have done something to cause it
• you think nothing will change and it will never end.

Reporting

For many people experiencing antisocial behaviour, knowing how to begin dealing with it is often a problem.

So who should you report it to? It’s important to tell the right people about what is going on. You can report to:

• your landlord, who has a duty to make sure that tenants don’t behave in a way that breaks their tenancy agreement
• the right department in your local council, e.g. housing, environmental health or an antisocial behaviour team
• the police, if you think a crime has been committed.

If you experience antisocial behaviour, you may have to help provide evidence before action can be taken, e.g. keeping a diary of things that happen. You might be asked to have recording equipment in your property for noise nuisance. You may have to call the police on 101 or even 999 if it’s an emergency.

It takes a lot of time and energy to keep doing this and we will support you. There is often no quick fix, but we’re here to help you through it once you have made the difficult decision to start reporting.

Support for you

Dealing with antisocial behaviour is hard and we can help you cope with the effects by:

• providing support by phone and face to face – it helps to have someone to talk to
• speaking to the different agencies involved on your behalf
• reassuring you that they are listening to you and will take action if possible
• keeping you up to date with what is being done
• helping you understand the process of tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, which can take a long time
• giving you advice about your personal safety and home security
• supporting you in mediation to try and resolve the problem
• helping you contact other agencies and services that can also offer help
• supporting you if a case goes to court.

If you’re affected by antisocial behaviour, it’s important to know that you’re not on your own; we’re here to help.

We have specialist antisocial behaviour teams in many areas around the country that deal directly with councils and social housing landlords. The police might refer you to us if you report a crime, but anyone affected by antisocial behaviour can contact us directly if they want to – you don’t need to talk to the police to get our help.

You can contact us by:

• Requesting support online
• Contacting your local Victim Support team
• Calling our Supportline for free on 08 08 16 89 111 or emailing us

If English is not your first language and you would like some support, call our Supportline and let us know which language you speak, and we will call you back with an interpreter as soon as possible. We also welcome calls via Next Generation Text on 18001 08 08 16 89 111.

Families and friends affected by crime can also contact us for support and information. If you’re a child or young person under 18 and are looking for support, visit our You & Co website, where we have lots of information and tips specifically for children and young people.