NEW POWERS TO TACKLE ANTI-SOCIAL TENANTS – REVIEW URGES

29 January 2007

Unruly council tenants who make other residents’ lives a misery could face having rights taken away from them, a review into anti-social behaviour has revealed.

Camden Council is looking into the possibility of bringing in Introductory and Demoted tenancies to help clampdown on tenants who flout the rules causing others to feel the brunt of their anti-social behaviour.

People living in social housing are more likely to witness drug taking or evidence of drug taking, 63 per cent, and people who own their homes are half as likely to perceive high levels of anti-social behaviour than residents in social housing, 18 per cent compared with 36 per cent. (1)

The tools(2), recommended following a review into anti-social behaviour by the council, would see every new council tenant sign a contract promising to behave themselves by sticking to a set of standards set by the council.

Tenants who break the agreement, after being given a clear ladder of expectations, could then be handed a demoted order which could result in certain rights being stopped such as ‘right to buy’, exchanging their home with another tenant, and right to make their tenancy long-term.

The risk of losing your home, or benefits associated with your home, is often more successful in stopping people acting anti-socially than other punishments including criminal prosecution, the report revealed.

Demoted Tenancies are an alternative to being evicted. It does not result in someone initially losing their home but gives the council the power to proactively tackle anti-social behaviour, which could ultimately result in a person being evicted if rules are continually ignored.

Introductory tenancy schemes set out clear rules, which must be obeyed in the first year of a tenancy agreement.

Any changes to the tenancy system would be fully discussed with residents and a public consultation would take place.

Following this review, a new anti-social behaviour action plan will be developed to reflect the findings of the report.

Other housing-related tools recommended in the review include:

· Continuing to build good relationships with Camden’s Registered Social Landlords (3).

· More talking to take place between the council and residents so tenants can feedback their concerns and the council can let residents know what progress is being made.

Cllr Ben Rawlings, Camden Council's Executive Member for Community Safety, said:

“Both powers aim to send a clear message to tenants that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated. However it also sets out a clear ladder of expectations to give tenants the chance to change their ways before facing eviction.”

Cllr Chris Naylor, Camden Council's Executive Member for Housing, said:

"I want our tenants and leaseholders to be aware we take anti-social behaviour very seriously. Anti social behaviour can make residents’ lives a real misery, and I want us to do all we can to tackle it. I will of course be looking at steps we can take around our tenancy conditions and indeed Introductory and Demoted tenancies to reduce these problems for the well-behaved majority of tenants.”

The first of its kind in the country, the review was set up to re-examine the impact of the council’s approach to anti-social behaviour, drawing on evidence from a wide range of experts – both local and national.

It found good progress had been made by the council to address anti-social behaviour with some notable success stories – however more needs to be done to nip problem behaviour in the bud and reduce the fear of crime.

The Executive will consider the findings of the review on 31 January 2007.

To view the report, go to www.camden.gov.uk/democracy and click on Forthcoming Meetings, All Meetings This Month, then January 31 Executive agenda.

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