Councillors were asked why Brighton and Hove City Council has no vulnerability policy or strategy to support victims of anti-social behaviour.
Craven Vale resident Lee Catt, who co-chairs the council’s central area housing management panel, has experienced anti-social behaviour from neighbours in his block and supported people in his community.
Anti-social behaviour is an issue raised at three of the council’s four housing management panels taking place this month.
Representatives said that people felt “fobbed off” and “blacklisted”, according to questions published in the latest reports.
Mr Catt asked the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee yesterday (Monday 15 September) why the council had not followed recommendations by forming a policy from the Housing Ombudsman 2024 Spotlight report on attitude, respect and rights within social housing.
The report by the ombudsman, which deals with complaints against social landlords such as Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “There is a pressing need for landlords to create human-centric policies, adapt to meet the needs of all their residents and ensure the most vulnerable residents are not left behind.
“For many landlords, their current approach is potentially inadequate for responding effectively to the needs of the population it serves.”
Earlier this year, the Housing Ombudsman awarded Mr Catt £1,250 after finding fault with the way the council failed to deal with anti-social behaviour and make reasonable adjustments for him.
Mr Catt asked: “If there is one (a policy), where is it? When was it published? Why is it not easy to access? And why does it not apply to all ASB (anti-social behaviour) victims.”
Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn, who chairs the committee, noted that Mr Catt wanted to speak with members of a task and finish group which is in the process of analysing how the council deals with anti-social behaviour and how it can improve.
Councillor O’Quinn read a response from the council’s housing team. It said: “We recognise the importance of ensuring that our housing services are inclusive, respectful and responsive to the needs of residents, particularly those who are vulnerable.
“While there is currently no standalone vulnerability policy or reasonable adjustment policy in place, I can confirm work is actively under way to address this as part of a wider programme of policy development which has so far included a new anti-social behaviour policy and hate incident policy.
“The vulnerability policy will set out our approach to adapting service provision to meet the individual needs of residents.
“It will be informed by equality data and lived experience and will reflect our commitment to recognising the unique experiences of each individual and tailoring accordingly.”
Mr Catt asked for an assurance that staff would receive training regarding their attitudes towards anti-social behaviour victims, saying that, from his experience, existing policies and procedures were not followed.
Councillor O’Quinn assured Mr Catt that she would look into the issue of training as part of the committee’s task and finish group on anti-social behaviour.
Well it couldn’t be any worse. The council failed to take action when a neighbour threatened to burn a property down, and only did after they starting a fire. The way they ignore residents raising the alarm about dangerous threats being made is shocking!
I’ll believe it when I see it. I had problems with my old neighbour for over a year. They refused to do anything without concrete evidence even though the anti-social behaviour of my ex neighbour wasn’t just reported by me but also other residents within the block.
I started to compile and continued to complex evidence over a 9 month period and gave them all of it. Including police reports. But nothing happened. The anti-social behaviour escalated more and more ever week. Eventually a tenancy support worker got involved but nothing changed and the behaviour continued. The excuse was they had policies and procedures they had to follow and that the tenant causing anti-social behaviour was vulnerable and have “issues”.
I also had complex health and vulnerabilities as well as other residents, who were also complaining.
Almost a year after the anti-social behaviour started the case was escalated to a more complex team to deal with. At this point I was at breaking point. And along with other residents within the block at the end of our tether with being dismissed and the lack of action from the council in terms of stopping the anti-social behaviour of the neighbour but also the lack of support and understanding of how the neighbours behaviour was impacting the others within the block.
They told me they were doing everything they could. But it went on and on.
It impacted me and fellow residents mental and physical wellbeing and at times caused a lot of undue stress and many disturb nights when myself was going through a life changing and alternating illness.
I was lucky enough to transfer to another property due to my health (but this was made worse by what I experience from the neighbour) and am now away from it all. But the impact that it had on me and the lack of support I felt throughout the whole thing with the council is something I will never forget or understand. My concerns, complaints and the negative impact it had on me, made me feel completely invalidated and unsafe and personally felt like the neighbour causing the anti-social behaviour was dismissed by the council and then when they finally started to look into it, supported the anti-social neighbour far better than the neighbours and I who continually raised or tried to voice our concerns.
Because of it all, I am now constantly on guard in my new property that I may encounter another resident with anti-social behaviour.
Anti- social behaviour has a lasting impact on victims that experience it and when they are dismissed, treated with little to no regard and consistently not heard it impacts the victims further.
Brighton & Hove City Council really need to start treating vulnerable tenants who don’t act in an anti-social way but who are victims of others anti-social behaviour, with much more dignity, kindness, compassion and understanding and take the victims more seriously and try to nip things in the bud as soon as issues are raised. This will continue to happen again and again and again.
A policy of tenants welfare is long overdue, it’s there in paper just not in action. When the councils allocate housing to a tenant with “issues” there needs to be a caretaker of people not just gardeners and maintenance for the property, the ” problem” tenant is not under the care of the other tenants. The council landlords have caused these problems literally by just dumping their problem tenants anywhere and everywhere without any thought about ongoing issues caused by these people towards other tenants. There seems to be a swap around policy running where certain problem tenants get swapped around with others from different councils, problems moved around, not dealt with.
There are regular check-in appointments throughout the provisional tenancy period, however, I would argue the frequency and effectiveness of them should be reviewed.
A bit like keep quiet for 3 months, job done, not the councils problem anymore then the same silly games go round and round again.
It’s typically a year, actually. But again, like I said I would argue the frequency and effectiveness of them should be reviewed.
3 months “trial” on my tenancy agreement, probably varies by location.
Get this.
If you are a Housing association tenant, council policy towards antisocial behaviour doesn’t apply to them!
Very worrying.
Nope, the HA’s policy towards antisocial behaviour applies instead.
My 6 year old son and I have had exactly the same experience in Dudeney Lodge. I was housed here to flee domestic abuse from my ex-husband to then find out that tje whole building was riddled with anti-social males with unmanaged mental health and addiction problems. Putting me and my son at further risk which actually goes against tje Domestic Abuse Act. In particular we suffered from harassment from our downstairs neighbour for over 4 years and nothing was done by the council despite pleading for help and asking to move us. My son now suffers from severe anxiety and PTSD as is having therapy as a result. I’m currently in the process of raising a complaint about it. If anyone can advise me please let me know by replying to this message.
Keep a diary/log of all the events including your meets witth the council, 3 months is enough to take it to a solicitor, let the solicitor inform the council, all medical and police reports should be added as well, don’t go looking for money you can do that later if needed, look for a solution. Citizens advice can help but not always, they can give you some advice though.