Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in private rented properties

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a problem for all and can be upsetting for those affected by it. It is the responsibility of Landlords and Managing Agents to take reasonable steps to prevent and deal with any ASB occurring in their properties. We know this is sometime difficult and some find it hard to know how to address the issue.

At Redbridge, we wish to support and help landlords in this difficult situation. Therefore, we have produced this guidance to help improve your knowledge and provide you with practical help.

For those with a property licence, addressing ASB is a condition of their licence, for both Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and Selective licensed properties.

If you, as a Landlord or Managing Agent, become aware of ASB occurring in your property, you should first read and comply with the specific ASB conditions on your property licence.

Please ensure you property is kept in good repair and managed correctly. For more information on your responsibilities and advice visit our Landlord Zone.

If you are a Tenant and have a problem with ASB, you can find more information on our Crime and Public Safety page.

What is ASB?

In housing law, “anti-social behaviour” means the conduct by occupiers or visitors to any residential premises,

which causes, or is likely to cause, a nuisance or annoyance to persons residing, visiting or otherwise engaged in lawful activities in the vicinity of such premises, or
which involves, or is likely to involve, the use of such premises for illegal purposes.

This could include but is not limited to,

Playing loud music at any time of the day, but particularly between 11pm and 7am
Shouting, screaming and swearing in the property, garden, communal or public areas
Allowing the build-up of refuse or storing items like mattresses and furniture outside the front or rear of the property
Threatening or abusive behaviour towards neighbours or other members of the public
Parking inconsiderably, letting vehicles idle for long periods or revving engines when arriving or departing from the property
The property being used as a brothel

How can I prevent ASB?

Prevention is better that a cure. There are some measures you can take as a Landlord or Agent to help reduce the risk of ASB occurring in the first place.

Carry out thorough tenant referencing. As you may know you must check that a tenant or lodger can legally rent your residential property in England, as part of the Right to Rent requirements. You may also wish to consider carrying out a credit check and obtaining references from employers and previous landlords. This can be done by agents and other organisations.

Before signing, check your tenancy agreement terms. Ensure your tenancy agreement or licence agreement works for you. You should consider including terms that relate to ASB and waste. This will help set boundaries for your tenant’s behaviour at the outset. You may also want to include a procedure on how you would enforce breach of the contract terms, leading up to eviction.

Set the expectation of their behaviour. Speak to the tenants at the start of their tenancy. Explain what is expected of them and their visitors. Show them the parts of their tenancy which mentions ASB. Show and provide them a copy of the property licence ASB conditions. Explain that you are responsible for complying with the licence conditions and what will happen if ASB occurs and the consequences.

Provide your contact details. At the beginning of the tenancy introduce yourself and give them your full name and contact details and that of any managing agent. Let them know if they have any questions or issues, they can contact you or the managing agents.

Explain the basics. Also, at the beginning of their tenancy, you should provide them with written details of

The terms of their occupation if you have not already done so in a tenancy agreement.
The maximum occupancy (you could give them a copy of the licence conditions).
Where and how they should store their refuse and recycling; what days the refuse and recycling is collected; how to present it and what to do with bulky items of waste.
How to report problems and repairs.
Copies of Gas Safety Certificates, Electrical Safety Certificates and Energy Performance Certificates (EPC).
Detail of which government -approved scheme you have protected their deposit with, if taken.
A copy of the Government’s “How to rent checklist”.

Undertake regular inspections. Your Licence Conditions requires you to undertake regular inspections every 4 or 6 months, depending on the type of licence and to keep a written log. You must agree a time and date with the tenant to inspect, with at least 24hrs notice. You cannot enter the property without the tenant’s permission. During the inspection do speak to your tenants about any issue they may have with the property, ask how they are enjoying living there.

Keep written records. Make sure you keep a record and copies of all documents, letters, emails given or sent to your tenant. You should also make written notes when you speak to a tenant, remember to include what was said, if any agreements were made, the time, date and location of where the conversation took place. This will help you keep track of what information has been provided and you can refer to this if any dispute arises.

Additionally, the Council when investigating an ASB complaint may ask you to demonstrate that you have taken reasonable and practicable steps to prevent and deal effectively with ASB and having good written records can help prove this. You should also keep any evidence of poor behaviour by the tenants or visitors. If written records are not kept this may be considered a breach of licence conditions.

What do I do if there is ASB occurring at my property?

The majority of ASB can be stopped by contacting the tenant early. It is a condition of the property licence that the Licence Holder must contact the tenants within 7 days of receiving an ASB complaint, even if unsubstantiated. They should speak to the tenant and have an open and honest conversation. Remind them of the terms of their tenancy and what was discussed at the start of their tenancy. Find out if there are any other issues that you can help with or signpost them toward. At the end of this page see ‘Contacts and Further Help’.

As a Licence Holder, you must inform them in writing of the allegations of the ASB and of the consequences of its continuation. To help we have provided example letters to assist with this, we recommend you tailor this for your particular circumstances. These are located at the bottom of this page.

You may want to speak to the neighbours to find out if they are aware of any ASB, explain that you are dealing with it and to encourage them to report any ASB issues to the Council on their Crime and Public Safety pages.

If there is a guarantor(s) consider writing to them to them ask them to have a discussion with the tenant.

If your tenants are Students, you may wish to contact their University or College to ask them to provide support and to make sure they are complying with any University/ College code of conduct.

If you have reasonable grounds to suspect that the ASB involves any criminal activity, the Licence Holder must ensure that the Police or the Council is informed. The Police and the Council often work together in resolving ASB and you may be required to help toward a solution. Such co-operation includes attending or being represented at any case conferences or multiagency meetings and providing information to the Police or the Authority when requested. This is also a condition of the property licence.

If reasoning with the tenant does not help, and there is clear evidence of a recurrence of ASB, it is advised that you to arrange another meeting with them. Then issue a 2^nd warning letter to advise the tenants,

What tenancy condition/s have been breached.
How the tenants or visitors have broken them.
What they should do to prevent further action being taken.
The consequences of continuing to breach the tenancy conditions.
Reminding them their tenancy is at risk and that you as the Landlord are required to work with the Local Authority and Police to deal with this matter.
Further incidents are likely to result in an eviction notice.

If after sending the 1^st and 2^nd letters, the ASB continues, and you think the letters have not worked. We would also advise you to send the Tenant a ‘Letter of Caution’. This letter comes before the stage of beginning eviction proceedings. It is a formal letter but is not a legal notice. It should only contain factual information including,

The time/dates you have spoken to them about the ASB allegations.
The dates the previous warning letters were sent to them.
Details of the specific incidents that have happened, which have caused a breach of their tenancy conditions.

If you would like example templates of the letters referred to above, please email asbdocumentrequest@redbridge.gov.uk The letters are supplied as examples to assist landlords in dealing with ASB in their properties, they do not form any legal advice. You use them at your own risk. Please Note: This email address only gives auto responses, and it is NOT monitored. We are unable to give specific responses to emails sent to this email address.

What do I do if I want to evict the tenants?

We appreciate that good landlords who have taken all reasonable steps to deal with ASB and may be faced with legally taking back possession of the property as a last resort. If this is the case, we ask landlords to keep us fully informed of the situation as it occurs and to update us with all steps take to resolve the problem.

To evict a tenant, you should always seek your own independent legal advice if you are in anyway unsure of the process. This is because if you, or others instructed by you, deprive occupiers of their occupation of the property without following the correct legal process, or if you or others carry out any conduct that interferes with occupier’s rights or causes them alarm or distress it may constitute harassment or an illegal eviction.

Occupiers are protected by law against this, these are criminal offences, and you may be prosecuted. Please note the Council cannot provide any legal advice in regards the eviction process.

In most cases, to evict a tenant you as the landlord must follow a three-stage process which involves a notice, a court claim for a possession order, and an eviction warrant. You should NOT attempt to physically remove a tenant, change locks or turn off gas, water or electric supplies.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced a new absolute (‘mandatory’) ground for possession of secure and assured tenancies where anti-social behaviour or criminality has already been proven by another court. The absolute (‘mandatory’) ground expedites the eviction of landlords’ most anti-social tenants to bring faster relief to victims. To be able to use this the tenant, members of the tenant’s household, or person/s visiting the property must meet one of the following conditions:

convicted of a serious offence (specified in Schedule 2A to the Housing Act 1985);
found by a court to have breached a civil injunction to prevent nuisance or annoyance.
convicted for breaching a criminal behaviour order (CBO);
convicted for breaching a noise abatement notice; or
the tenant’s property has been closed for more than 48 hours under a closure order for anti-social behaviour.

If the above test is met, the court must grant a possession order (subject to any available human rights or proportionality defence) where the correct procedure has been followed, including service of the notice of seeking possession.

Unlike the discretionary grounds for possession, the landlord is not required to prove to the court that it is reasonable to grant possession. This means the court is more likely to determine cases in a single, short hearing.

You are advised to always use a solicitor to institute eviction proceedings, so they can give you their expert advice based on your circumstances. This should ensure your, and the tenants’ rights are protected, due process is followed, and the eviction is carried out legally.

Contacts and further help

If at any point you feel like the situation could get heated or violent very soon, or if someone is in immediate danger or you need Police support right away? If so, please call 999 to speak to the Police.

You can use our Crime and Public Safety page to report ASB, Noise Nuisance, Crime or Domestic Abuse to Redbridge Council.

If you are worried or would like more information regarding how to deal with prostitution, brothels in your property and advice on how to spot the signs of modern slavery, please visit our Prostitution Slavery Pledge page.

If you are worried about potential domestic abuse in a private rented property, you can contact the Councils “Reach Out” domestic abuse service on: 0800 145 6410 or E-mail: Reachout@redbridge.gov.uk

Please see the following guidance for further information on what you need to know about renting out a property.

For information on Possession and Evictions, please see the following guidance.

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