Section: Antisocial Behaviour & Nuisance

Failure to Control Nuisance is an Issue

Reading Council introduced a new traffic scheme in October 2000, which considerably increased the volume of traffic on an existing road. This led to additional noise levels, which Mr. A found intolerable. His main bedroom was on the ground floor facing the road, at the front of the house, and he was unable to sleep properly as a result.

Mr. A fitted wooden shuttering and secondary double-glazing to his windows. The Council refused to pay for these works and Mr. A began a small claim in his local Court. The basis of his claim was that the noise interfered with his human right to respect for his private life and his home.

The High Court found in his favour. The Judge decided that, although an individual's human rights had to be balanced against the interests of the wider community, Mr. A had suffered particular loss because he was on the busiest part of the road. The Judge ruled that the Council should have compensated Mr. A and it had powers to do so under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972. The issue in question was not the cause of the noise nuisance, but the failure of the Council to control the impact of it. The Court awarded Mr. A damages of £2,000.

Andrews v Reading BC

Actions Considered Too Heavy

Ms H was a tenant of Moat Housing Group and she lived with her four children. Following reports from neighbours, Moat applied, without Notice, for an Injunction under new provisions of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003.

The Judge granted an Order, restraining Ms H from causing nuisance and annoyance or contacting witnesses. The Orders also excluded her from her home from 6pm that evening and prevented her returning there or to the area for a six-month period. Powers of Arrest were attached to the Orders.

The Orders were served at 9pm that evening and Ms H contacted a solicitor, who telephoned the emergency Judge at the High Court. The exclusion provisions were stayed at 1.30am.

The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against the original Order and ruled that applications without Notice should be exceptional. Landlords should seek and a Court should grant only the minimum Order necessary, so as to hold the situation until a hearing can be convened with both parties present. The Orders for instant exclusion should not have been sought or made.

Having obtained the original Injunction, Moat HG had also applied for a Possession Order against Ms H and for Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) against her and her children's father. The Judge granted an outright Possession Order and ASBOs prohibiting return to the area for four years.

The Court of Appeal decided the Judge had rightly considered the effects of the behaviour on the neighbours, but had overlooked the following:

The Court of Appeal substituted a conditional Possession Order that, if there were no further incidents of antisocial behaviour, would rescind after two years.

It also set aside the ASBOs, ruling that they should not have been made for as long as four years and the misconduct was not of a persistent and serious nature for which ASBOs are suitable. Instead, the Court granted Injunctions with a Power of Arrest.

Moat Housing Group v Hartless

NIHE Help Fund Student Warden Patrols

It was announced that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive will contribute to the funding of eight full-time community street wardens in a major student area of Belfast. The new warden service will patrol the Holy Land area of the City on Mondays to Thursdays late at night through to the early hours of the morning. Its aim will be to deter antisocial behaviour by university students and to liaise with local residents. Wardens will have the power to issue on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour.

The initiative, which will be jointly funded by Queen's University, University of Ulster, the Northern Ireland Office, and Belfast Council, follows some 300 complaints about the behaviour of drunken students.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive's involvement responds to its statutory responsibility for registering houses in multiple occupation. The problem of antisocial behaviour by students is centred on shared student houses in the Holy Land area.

Although not a problem confined to Belfast, the conversion of small terraced houses near to the University for the occupation of up to 12 students has contributed to making matters worse.

More ASBOs Issued and More Breached

New statistics released by the Home Office revealed that nearly 50% of all Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are breached. Findings include:

Housing Staff May Take Over Legal Work

It was reported that the Home Office's Antisocial Behaviour Unit was considering the possibility of training housing staff in procedures associated with applying for Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and housing Injunctions directly, rather than using solicitors.

The average cost of securing an ASBO is about £2,000, although very complex cases can cost up to £9,000. Manchester Council, which has been particularly active in its use of ASBOs, is one social landlord known to be considering legal training for its housing staff.

It is believed that the Home Office's proposals are based on a scheme developed by Charter HA in 2003. The Association, which manages about 4,000 homes, has reduced its legal costs by 95% from £108,000 per year to £4,500 per year. This has been attributed to its nuisance prevention scheme, which involved training housing staff to prepare housing injunction cases and present them in Court.

Banned from Sheltered Accommodation

A 79-year-old male tenant of Leeds North West Homes was made the subject of an Antisocial Behaviour Order by Leeds Crown Court, which effectively bans him from every sheltered housing complex in England.

He was found guilty of persistent harassment of elderly woman in the sheltered home he resided at. He has now been removed from the home and is in an emergency hostel until a suitable permanent home can be allocated to him.

Housing Monthly Diary

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Issue: May 2005 Reporting on January-April 2005

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