Brighton and Hove council tenants raise concerns over anti-social behaviour

Housing officials asked council tenants for their input on dealing with anti-social behaviour

Councillors in Brighton and Hove have been asked to back new measures to deal with anti-social behaviour amongst council tenants.

A Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) review recommended introducing community protection notices (CPNs) among other measures.

Failing to comply with a CPN is a criminal offence and offenders can face fines or prison time.

The review followed frequent complaints by tenants and leaseholders.

The introduction of CPNs is one of more than half a dozen recommendations after a review by council housing officials "with crucial input from residents".

The council's tenancy management team surveyed 140 tenants who either were experiencing or had experienced anti-social behaviour, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Tenants' concerns

Communication was a common theme during the survey, with delays in updating tenants on officers' progress with their cases.

A separate group of tenants raised concerns about the length of time taken to deal with anti-social behaviour, the language used and the focus on supporting perpetrators.

The group told the council that it must do better at managing victims' expectations as they were not always aware of the complexity of cases.

Other recommendations of the report included a review of the "sensitive lets" policy, increased use of satisfaction surveys and the creation of a rapid response strategy.

The report said: "We will take steps to prevent anti-social behaviour (ASB) from occurring, and where it does occur, we will aim to take swift and effective action to find a lasting solution while supporting the victims of ASB and supporting behaviour change of the perpetrator."

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