Living in your community (section 10)

This page provides information about your responsibilities when living in your community, including respecting others, nuisance and disturbances, antisocial behaviour, hate crime, and criminal activity.

On this page:

Don’t suffer in silence – please talk to us

10.1 We want you, as well as those around you, to be able to live peacefully in your home. If you are suffering from nuisance, harassment, racial harassment or domestic abuse, please contact us. We will treat you in a sensitive and supportive way, and any information that you share with us will be treated confidentially.

Your responsibilities as a council tenant

Respecting others

10.2 You must be tolerant of the different lifestyles of others.

10.3 You are responsible for the behaviour of every person (including children) living in or visiting your home. This responsibility applies to behaviour inside your home, in communal areas (stairs, lifts, entrance halls, pathways, shared gardens, parking areas, etc.) and in the neighbourhood around your home.

Causing a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance

10.4 You, your pets and anyone living with you or visiting you must not do anything that causes or is likely to cause a nuisance, danger, annoyance or disturbance to anyone living, visiting or working in the neighbourhood. Examples of nuisance, annoyance or disturbance include:

  • loud noise
  • noise during unreasonable hours
  • intimidating behaviour
  • abusive language and threatening behaviour
  • shouting and slamming doors
  • allowing dogs to bark excessively and not cleaning up dog mess
  • being drunk and offensive
  • rubbish dumping
  • playing ball games close to someone else’s home or vehicle
  • repairing vehicles (except minor maintenance to your own vehicle)
  • parking an illegal or un-roadworthy vehicle on or near your home
  • riding unlicensed vehicles on footpaths and grassed areas
  • throwing things (for example mud or stones) at another person or at property

This is not a full list and there may be other activities which cause a nuisance or disturbance to others.

Causing Antisocial Behaviour (ASB)

You (or anyone living with you or visiting your home) must not harass, threaten, assault or abuse any other person. To do so is a serious breach of these tenancy conditions. Examples include:

  • racist behaviour or language
  • using or threatening to use violence towards anyone
  • using abusive or insulting behaviour or words including through the use of Facebook or other social media
  • stalking someone
  • damaging or threatening to damage another person’s home or possessions or other council property
  • writing threatening, abusive or insulting graffiti
  • damaging, defacing or putting graffiti on council property. You will have to pay for clearance, repair or replacement
  • verbally abusing, harassing or trying to intimidate or using violence against any staff employed by or contracted to the council
  • throwing things off balconies or out of windows
  • storing materials that may catch fire or blow up (or vehicles that use these materials) in your home or in shared areas
  • making false or malicious complaints about the behaviour of any other person
    drunken and rowdy behaviour

This is not a full list and there may be other activities which cause a nuisance or disturbance to others.

Hate crime

10.6 You must not discriminate against anyone because of their race, colour, religion or nationality, sex, age, mental or physical disability, learning disability or sexual orientation (meaning being lesbian or gay) or for any other reason.

Domestic abuse

10.7 You (or anyone living with you or visiting your home) must not: 

  • inflict domestic violence or threaten violence against any other person living with you or elsewhere
  • harass or use physical, mental, emotional or sexual and financial abuse against any other person living with you or elsewhere

If you do, we will take action to evict you from your home.

Criminal activity

10.8You (or anyone living with you or visiting your home) must not use your home or any communal area or any area in the neighbourhood for any criminal or immoral activity.

10.9 Examples of criminal or immoral behaviour include:

  • prostitution and related offences
  • possessing, cultivating/manufacturing or dealing illegal drugs
  • storing or handling stolen or counterfeit goods
  • theft
  • burglary
  • keeping illegal or  unlicensed firearms, ammunition or weapons in a property
  • storage of items or materials in your home that may be used for immoral or illegal purposes
  • exploitation and abuse of children and adults

This is not a full list and there may be other examples of criminal, illegal or immoral activity.

10.10 If you, or any person living with or visiting you, are arrested and/or convicted of a criminal offence committed in the neighbourhood or in your home, we may take action to make you leave your home.

What action can we take?

10.11 If you, anyone living with you or visiting your home, cause nuisance, annoyance, harassment, antisocial behaviour, criminal activity or domestic abuse, we will take action to control your behaviour and protect the quality of life of other residents. Some of the things we can do are:

  • write to warn you about your responsibilities as a tenant
  • ask you to sign an acceptable behaviour contract
  • extend your introductory tenancy for a further six months
  • get a court order to demote your tenancy – as a demoted tenant you will have fewer rights
  • and some additional conditions to comply with
  • get an Injunction to stop you, or any person living with or visiting you, from acting in an antisocial manner or threatening to carry out violence towards another person
  • get an order suspending your right to buy your home
  • evict you from your home

This is not a full list.

10.12 If you, or a person living in or visiting your home, engage in antisocial behaviour for which the court grants the council an order for possession, whether suspended or not, you may be required to pay the council’s reasonable administrative costs for pursuing you in respect of the antisocial behaviour.

Last updated on 29/05/2024