Misuse of communal areas/public space or loitering

The issue

This section looks at the problems caused by loitering and rowdy and nuisance behaviour in communal areas and public space, and examines approaches to tackling it.

In a one-day count of anti-social behaviour carried out in England and Wales in September 2003, there were nearly 13,000 reports of nuisance and rowdy behaviour. This accounted for 20% of all reports that day. It is often in areas of greatest disadvantage that the corrosive effect of this behaviour is seen and felt most clearly.

Rowdy and nuisance behaviour is often fuelled by alcohol and typically includes one or more of the following:

intimidating passers by
fighting and urinating on the streets
criminal damage and throwing missiles
shouting, swearing and hooliganism
inappropriate use of fireworks and airguns.

It also includes:

groups of young people congregating where they are causing disorder or nuisance and distress to others
two or three families and their wider network of contacts creating havoc on a housing estate or inner city neighbourhood.

Over a third of the public have cited teenagers hanging around in the street as being a problem in their area.

Begging is one of the most visible signs of public space being misused. In the one-day count there were nearly 3,239 reports of begging and street drinking. This accounted for 5% of all reports that day. It is a sign of a problem street culture and can hold back the economic and social life of a community, as well as being intimidating and threatening to people. For example, 65% of the public resents being approached by people begging and 54% will not use a cash point if someone is begging near it.

Tenancy Agreement

The Tenancy Agreement makes it clear that::

Tenants are responsible for the behaviour of everyone living in or visiting the Property. They must also keep under control any animals living in or visiting the Property. This applies when they are in the Property, in communal areas (stairs, lifts, landings, entrance halls, paved areas, shared gardens and parking areas), on adjacent land and in the locality around the Property.

Tenants, members of the household and visitors must not:

cause or permit a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to any other person. Examples of nuisance, annoyance or disturbance include:- loud music; arguing and door slamming; allowing excessive or prolonged dog barking, dog fouling; offensive drunkenness; selling drugs or drug abuse; solvent abuse; rubbish dumping; playing ball games close to someone else’s Property
harass or allow to be harassed any other person. Examples of harassment include:- racist behaviour or language; using or threatening .to use violence; using abusive or insulting graffiti or behaviour; damaging or threatening to damage another persons property or possessions; writing threatening, abusive of insulting graffiti; doing anything that interferes with the peace, comfort or convenience of other people
use or allow the Property to be used for any illegal or immoral purpose including the storage, or possession of/or dealing in stolen property or illegal drugs or the use of illegal drugs and must not deal in drugs in the locality of the Property.
damage, deface or put graffiti on Council property. Tenants will have to pay for any repairs or replacements.
interfere with security and safety equipment in communal blocks. Doors should not be jammed open and strangers should not be let in without identification.

What can I do?

STEP 1
Depending on how confident you feel - you might consider approaching the person causing the offence and find out whether they realise how it is affecting you. It would be nice to think that if they knew how much offence it was causing that they would stop and apologise. If however, you are worried about approaching the person directly or you have approached them and they are not willing to stop their behaviour then please contact us| or the Police.

STEP 2
It is essential that you keep a record of each and every incident and how it is effecting you. This information could be crucial to any legal action. If anyone else is a witness they should also be asked to keep a record and to complain to Gloucester City Homes and Gloucestershire Police.

Follow this link to download our incident log sheet|.

What can Gloucester City Homes / Gloucestershire Constabulary do to help?

There are a range of legal powers available to the Police to take action against people who intimidate or harrass people, or use threatening behaviour, or beg in public places. These powers can range from a warning, to a fine, and in some cases to criminal prosecutions and imprisonment.

If however the person verbally abusing, harassing, intimidating or threatening others, is a tenant, leaseholder or shared owner, or a member of their family or visitor to their home, then Gloucester City Homes may work with Gloucestershire Constabulary to investigate the incident(s) in partnership.

A range of non-legal action will also be considered when tackling the anti social behaviour, including:

asking you and the person abusing you to attend mediation to try and work out a solution to the problem
verbal and written warnings
the use of an Acceptable Behaviour Contract
the use of Parental Control Agreements.

If the non-legal remedies do not work the following legal action could be taken:

where an offence is commited the perpetrator could be arrested and taken to court that could lead to prosecution and community service or imprisonment
an injunction could be obtained forbidding the perpertrator acting in an anti social manner. Breaching the order could lead to a 2 year prison sentence
an application for an Anti Social Behaviour Order.

Ultimately if any of the above legal action fails, Gloucester City Homes could ask the Courts to grant repossession of a tenant's home, or the revocation of the lease for leaseholders or shared owners, suspended if they stopped the unacceptable behaviour.

As the perpetrator had caused themselves to become homeless it is unlikely that the Council's Housing service would be required to permanently rehouse them. They are more likely to have to find their own suitable alternative accommodation. This would ultimately depend on the circumstances of each case.

Our Service Standards

We will:

contact you within 5 working days in non-emergency cases or within 1 working day in urgent cases. Emergencies should be immediately reported to the police
if necessary, arrange an interview with you within 5 working days in non-emergency cases or within 1 working day in urgent cases
discuss the situation and advise you on the options that may be available to help resolve the problem such as mediation, voluntary agreements, legal action
help you keep a detailed diary of events, which will help us gather any evidence needed to take further action
work with you to try to resolve your problem, and explain clearly what is happening at each stage
jointly work with the police and any other agency that may be able to help resolve the problem
consider legal action against any person who continues to behave in an anti-social way, including taking court injunction and possession proceedings, or an Anti-social Behaviour Order, or supporting criminal prosecutions recommended by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service
work with the police and other agencies to protect you and any other witnesses.