Antisocial behaviour

We want you to feel safe and secure in and around your home. We take a zero tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour and work with the police and other agencies to resolve complaints. Any resident or household found to be committing antisocial behaviour, or allowing their visitors to, could face legal or non-legal sanctions and even lose their home.

Is it antisocial behaviour or nuisance?

Sometimes behaviour will be annoying or disturbing, but not reach the threshold of antisocial behaviour under our definition. See below for more on our definitions of ASB and nuisance.

What is antisocial behaviour?

It is important our residents act responsibly. Everyday noise and lifestyle differences are to be expected when living close to other people, but anti-social behaviour is not acceptable.

The antisocial behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014) defines antisocial behaviour as:

• conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person;
• conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person‘s occupation of residential premises; or
• conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person

We consider antisocial behaviour to be behaviour that fits within this legal definition, where we can take action for breach of tenancy or lease. The types of behaviour we consider to be antisocial behaviour includes:

• hate crime
• domestic abuse
• physical violence and serious threats of violence
• sexual offences
• gun or knife crime
• arson
• vandalism
• verbal abuse, harassment, intimidation or threatening behaviour
• criminal behaviour in or around our property
• gang related antisocial behaviour
• use of illegal drugs and drug dealing
• prostitution
• misuse of communal areas
• drunk and/or rowdy behaviour
• vehicle nuisance such as joy-riding or reckless driving
• fly-tipping
• dangerous dogs
• noise nuisance*

This list is not exhaustive – we will assess each report individually. We give consideration as to whether the ASB might be deliberate and targeted due to a person’s ’protected characteristics’ (which could constitute a hate crime).

*Noise, particularly between 11pm-7am, may be considered antisocial behaviour. We will work with our Enforcement Team to deal with noise that is louder than statutory limits. Noise under the statutory limit will only be considered anti social behaviour if it is persistent, occurs regularly and continues for a period of time that is unreasonable. It is not enough for the noise to be annoying or disturbing. Noise will normally be initially investigated as nuisance first.

You can report noise through our noise app. To use the noise app, create your account and choose the service provider Lewisham Homes to investigate your noise nuisance reports. To report a nuisance simply tap the icon, make a 30-second recording of the noise, complete a form and submit your report online. Please note you can submit a maximum of 15 recordings per day.

What is nuisance?

We recognise sometimes behaviour will be annoying or disturbing, but not reach the threshold of antisocial behaviour under our definition. We will take steps to try to resolve the situation, but it is extremely unlikely we will be able to take enforcement action against a tenancy or lease for this behaviour.

Behaviour we consider nuisance includes:

• inconsiderate parking
• lifestyle differences, such as different times of going to bed
• noise that does not meet the antisocial behaviour definition
• neighbour disputes
• garden or boundary disputes
• pet or animal nuisance

Reporting antisocial behaviour

You can report antisocial behaviour using this form.

If you have already reported this issue but need to give us additional information you can use the diary incident form.

Report antisocial behaviour over the phone by calling 0800 028 2028 or emailing: asb@lewisham.gov.uk. 

Operating hours

• our antisocial behaviour team works Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
• the professional witness service works Friday to Saturday 10pm-3am

If you ring us on 0800 028 2028 to report excessive noise or other antisocial behaviour during these times, you will be put through to the professional witness on call, who can then arrange to visit your home or neighbourhood to listen to or witness what’s happening.

They will not be able to take immediate action, but if necessary, they can provide us with a witness statement and professional evidence to help us take enforcement actions against breaches of tenancy.

What we can do

We have a range of powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, including:

• verbal and written warnings
• mediation
• acceptable behaviour contracts
• court orders and injunctions
• evictions

What you can do

All our residents should act responsibly, respect their neighbours and community, and ensure their children and visitors do not cause a nuisance. Committing antisocial behaviour is a breach of your tenancy, and you could lose your home.

Before making a complaint of antisocial behaviour, ask yourself if the issue really is distressing, or if it’s just annoying to you and/or others because it’s different to your lifestyle or culture. Consider whether you can resolve the issue yourself first by talking to your neighbour. They may not be aware that their behaviour is causing a problem. Consider if the behaviour is antisocial behaviour or a nuisance.

What to expect

When you report a case of antisocial behaviour to us, our antisocial behaviour team will support you by taking your initial statement, agreeing on an action plan, and providing regular updates on the case. They will investigate the case, help gather additional evidence, interview the alleged offender and decide what, if any, action should be taken. If the case goes to court, the antisocial behaviour team will prepare the case and give evidence. Housing Officers will manage any cases of nuisance.

Partnership working

We work with partners to resolve antisocial behaviour matters, including:

• Police – we will work with police where there are criminal matters affecting our residents and communities
• Athena – the domestic abuse support provider for Lewisham.
• Lewisham Council – crime enforcement and regulation team for ASB matters affecting more than just our estates, licencing issues and where statutory enforcement notices are needed.
• Lewisham Council housing options service where rehousing may be needed
• Lewisham Council social care where we need to provide support to victims and perpetrators of ASB
• Crime Concern UK – our dispute resolution partners providing mediation and professional witnessing services
• SLAM – providing support to victims and perpetrators with mental health concerns
• CGL – support for substance misuse
• LFB – to provide home fire safety visits and fire proof equipment

Feedback on our service

When a case of antisocial behaviour is closed the complainant will be contacted by an independent research company to find out how happy they were with our service. The feedback you give in this survey is used to help us understand what worked well, and learn where improvements may be needed.

You can also share any comments or suggestions on our antisocial behaviour service with the assigned Council officer during the regular updates throughout your case.

Community trigger

The community trigger allows victims and communities to ask for a response to persistent antisocial behaviour. It places a new duty on local agencies including councils, the police, local health teams and registered social housing providers to take action on complaints about antisocial behaviour.

The community trigger cannot be used to report general acts of crime. It is not a complaints procedure and does not replace existing processes to make a complaint if you are not happy about the service you have received.

When can the community trigger be used?

The community trigger can be used in the following situations:

• if an individual has reported antisocial behaviour to Lewisham Council, police and/or Lewisham Homes three times about separate incidents in the last six months and it is perceived that no action has been taken, or
• if five individuals in the local community have reported similar incidents of antisocial behaviour separately and it is perceived that no action has been taken

How do I use the community trigger?

You can either:

• submit an online community trigger form
• write to our Enforcement Team at Lewisham Council, Holbeach Office, 9 Holbeach Road, Catford SE6 4TW
• call the Enforcement team on 020 8314 6000

The community trigger can be activated by a victim of antisocial behaviour, an individual on the victim’s behalf, a community or a business.

What happens next?

You will get an automatic response when you submit your form. We will send you a letter of acknowledgement detailing the timescales for the trigger process within three working days. A trigger panel with a senior representative from the relevant agencies will then meet to determine whether the report meets the community trigger threshold outlined above, and to identify an appropriate and proportionate action plan. Following the trigger panel meeting, you will get a written response detailing the decision of the panel.

Antisocial behaviour policy

This policy explains what types of activities could be classed as Anti-social behaviour (ASB) or nuisance behaviour and sets out the different approaches we take to prevent or reduce this. Download the policy from the policy library.