Tackling anti-social behaviour with our communities
With the help of our customers, Great Places has successfully convinced the courts to give us back possession of a property where the customer has been disrupting one of our communities with anti-social behaviour (ASB).
The customer, an extremely vulnerable person who had a complex lifestyle, was heavily supported by a number of agencies. However, back in 2021 the customer began to cause problems for the community in which they were living.
Neighbours within the estate reported issues relating to drugs, alcohol and prostitution which were having a significant impact on their community.
Great Places worked tirelessly in partnership with other agencies such as the Police and the Local Authority to support the customer to sustain their tenancy and prevent the ASB from continuing. Colleagues attended regular multi-agency meetings and assisted with caution orders, criminal behaviour orders, as well as a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO), all of which were met with limited engagement from the customer.
After exhausting every option available to us to reduce the ASB, we were left with no other option than to pursue possession proceedings, which as a result of the case work undertaken by our Housing and Enforcement team, led to the courts granting a possession order, effectively ending the tenancy.
The community provided a huge amount of evidence which supported us in successfully obtaining the Court Order against the customer. This included concise yet detailed reports with times and dates of incidents and video footage. Without the quality evidence provided by neighbours, this court action would likely have been unsuccessful.
One customer from the community said: “Without the help and hard work of Great Places’ Housing and Enforcement Team, it wouldn’t have been possible to get this excellent result for the community.
“The impact on individuals across the community varied from affecting their wellbeing to impacting massively on their mental health.”
Housing and Enforcement Specialist, Steph, said: “Possession proceedings are not a quick fix, and the community endured a huge amount of unacceptable ASB during the months of this case. It was a real community effort to make sure a successful outcome at court was achieved.
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to the members of the community who worked with us to make sure we had the best possible evidence to make this happen.”
If you are suffering from ASB, please report this to our Customer Hub, we are here to help. The easiest way to do this is via the MyPlace customer portal which you can access via our website or by clicking the button. Alternatively, you can call 0300 123 1966 and select option 3. From receipt of your report into our Customer Hub, we will record your contact and respond within three working days.