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Anti-Social Behaviour
H&F Homes regards anti-social behaviour by any tenant as unacceptable. We have a policy of zero tolerance of anti-social behaviour and tenants who engage in it will be evicted from their homes for breaking their tenancy agreements. We will also take tough enforcement action against leaseholders or the tenants of leaseholders who break the law by engaging in anti-social behaviour.
If you have a problem related to someone else's anti-social behaviour; verbal and/or physical intimidation, attacks on your home or property, excessively noisy neighbours, fly tipping or vandalism, then contact your housing officer based at your local area housing office where your report will be treated in confidence and with sensitivity and respect. In the meantime, download an /Editor/assets/asb diary.pdf and record everytime an incident takes place - names (if known), dates/times, witnesses and nature of incident(s), and remember, you don't have to be a victim of anti-social behaviour to take a stand.
If you see someone else suffering from it, then you can call your local area housing office (or in the case of an emergency, call 999). You can remain anonymous or ask to have your confidentiality respected. Please report any incidents to Crimestoppers or the police. For details of your local police Safer Neighbourhood Team click here.
See our new leaflet about anti-social behaviour
Reporting ASB
If you have to report ASB to us, there are a series of questions that we need to ask to ensure that we have all the information we require to investigate the matter, some of the information we collect may not seem relevant to you at the time but is being used to improve our service to all our residents.
We ask you to give us all the information you have about the incident or reason for your complaint, but we also ask you a series of questions about your gender, whether you have any disabilities, your age and your ethnicity. You can choose not to answer these questions - but if you do answer them that information will remain confidential.
Hammersmith and Fulham is a diverse community and we ask for this information to ensure that our services are being delivered fairly to everyone. From the information you provide to us we will be able to assess who is using our facilities and who isn't, and whether or not we are providing equal access to all our tenants and residents.
Therefore, when your Housing Officer asks you these questions please be patient and provide the information and help us improve our service to you. Thank you.
Good news from Hammersmith and Fulham Homes and LBHFs Anti-Social Behaviour Unit...
Graffiti problems – success at last!
A 250 property estate above a shopping centre that was suffering from persistent tagging and graffiti is now graffiti free. Despite it being cleaned regularly by the caretaking team, it was making residents lives a misery.
The excellent team work of all the partners - H & F Homes, the Environment Department, Estate Wardens, the Professional Witness team and the Police Safer Neighbourhood team - meant that they were able to identify one of the perpetrators who had not only been tagging the estate but the High Street as well.
The Police will be taking action for criminal damage and the culprit will also be recharged for the many hours of caretaking time taken up in cleaning and repainting the areas he tagged. The partners will continue to pursue the other youths involved and once caught they will also have action taken against them.
Housing Officer, Sharon Bruce-Tagoe said 'It is extremely rewarding to know that after several months of intensive work and monitoring we finally have a result. It has been a long struggle as very few residents would come forward for fear of reprisals. This long project shows that perseverance clearly pays off.'
Area Housing Manager, Hazel Flynn said 'It is due to the tenacity, commitment and sheer hard work of the partnership work on the estate that has led to this success.'
Lack of engagement leads to eviction.
A tenant who persistently failed to cooperate with H & F Homes and the ASBU was recently evicted following a closure order.
H & F Homes and the ASBU were advised when the tenant moved into the property that he had a history of drug use, coupled with anti-social behaviour at his previous property. Numerous attempts were made to ensure that the tenant had the support that he needed and understood his responsibilities with regard to his tenancy agreement. But these attempts failed. The tenant was then written to and it was explained what would happen if his agreement was breached but he ignored these letters as well. Despite this, no complaints were received about his behaviour for several months.
Disappointingly, complaints gradually started to come in relating to drugs and ASB and further attempts at contact with the tenant were made, which were also ignored. The Police were informed and the excellent information sharing relationship between H & F Homes, the ASBU and the Police led to a Closure Order being obtained.
The property was sealed and the Court granted H & F Homes an forthwith order possession order on 15th February 2008.
Residents relief
A closure order and eviction eventually brings relief to residents who were suffering with drug related ASB.
Residents of a quiet estate were in the unfortunate position of having to cope with serious anti-social behaviour connected to drug use and dealing taking place in and around one particular flat. All but two residents were too scared to come forward and supply the Housing Officer with the details of the perpetrator. Despite this major hurdle, the Housing Officer and Anti-Social Behaviour Coordinator (ASBC) from the Council's ASBU were able to work cooperatively with the police. The Housing Officer also kept in close contact with the residents and incorportated the complaints into his own Court statement, whilst protecting the residents' identities.
The police obtained enough evidence to be granted a Closure Order for three months and the ASBC was able to make a referral to the Department of Legal Services early enough for a possession hearing to be set within the Order period.
However, the tenant believed that she had grounds to oppose the Council's application and the case was adjourned to a later date. Owing to legal technicalities, the case was adjourned a further two times before it was finally heard almost 12 months later.
After a full day in Court, the District Judge announced that H & F Homes and the ASBU had clearly proven that serious breaches of tenancy had taken place for a sustained period. The Judge also highlighted that the "hearsay" evidence supplied by two of the residents added significant weight to the direct evidence given by the officers in Court. We were awarded possession within 14 days and awarded almost our full costs of £5,000.
A further closure order has been obtained and we are hopeful that it will be as successful as the two highlighted above.
If you would like to know more then please contact:
kate.boulton@hfhomes.org.uk or call 020 8753 4817
The results are in..
The results of our first anti-social behaviour survey are in. We asked tenants and residents who had suffered anti-social behaviour how they were treated and was their complaint dealt with satisfactorily. The results were very positive but for a full breakdown click here /Editor/assets/anti social behaviour survey 1.pdf