Anti Social Behaviour

·        Introduction

·        Legislation

·        Definition Of Anti-Social Behaviour

·        Existing procedures for dealing with Anti Social Behaviour

·        Anti Social Behaviour Complaints

·        Investigating the Complaint

·        Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014

·        Tenancy Warnings

Introduction

Managing Local Authority estates can present significant challenges for Local Authorities, particularly in dealing with the problem of anti-social behaviour. Leitrim County Council is committed to the prevention and elimination of anti-social behaviour in its estates. To this end the Council is adopting a proactive approach to the problem and all complaints will be investigated with every effort made to resolve the issues.

Leitrim County Council has powers under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 to tackle the problems associated with anti-social behaviour and promote good estate management. However the Local Authority cannot tackle anti-social behaviour issues on its own and therefore Leitrim County Council is committed to working in partnership with An Garda Siochana, the Health Services Executive, Joint Policing Committee, Leitrim Development Company, Leitrim Residents Network, and local communities to address anti-social behaviour problems.

 Legislation

Section 35 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 required the Elected Members of each Housing Authority to draw up an adopt an anti social behaviour strategy for the prevention and reduction of anti social behaviour, by 30^th November 2010. 

The Anti Social Behaviour Strategy 2010-2015 was adopted by Leitrim County Council on 1^st November 2010.  This Strategy was prepared following consultation with the Gardai, the Joint Policing Committee and the Leitrim Residents Network. 

This legislation required Housing Authorities to review their anti social behaviour strategies at least every 5 to 6 years.  Leitrim County Council are currently reviewing their existing Anti Social Behaviour Document in line with the legislative requirement to review the document every 5-6 years and also to provide for the changes introduced in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014.  It is anticipated that this document will be adopted at the July County Council Meeting.  The reviewed Document will then be uploaded to the Leitrim County Council Website.

Definition Of Anti-Social Behaviour

The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 states that “anti-social behaviour” includes either or both of the following , namely-

a)      The manufacture, production, preparation, importation, exportation, sale, supply, possession for the purposes of sale or supply, or distribution of a controlled drug (within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Acts, 1977 and 2007)

b)      Any behaviour which cause or is likely to cause any significant or persistent danger, injury, damage, alarm, loss or fear to any person living, working or otherwise lawfully in or in the vicinity of a house provided by a housing authority under the housing acts 1966 to 2002 or Part V of the Planning & Development Act 2000 or a housing estate in which the house is situate or a site and without prejudice to the foregoing includes :

(i)                violence, threats, intimidation, coercion, harassment or serious obstruction of any person.

(ii)              Behaviour which causes any significant or persistent impairment of a person’s use or enjoyment of his or her home (this includes noise as set out in the tenancy agreement).

(iii)             Damage to or defacement by writing or other marks or any property, including a person’s home”

Existing procedures for dealing with Anti Social Behaviour

All new tenants must attend pre tenancy courses. The pre tenancy course examines the Tenancy Agreement and explains the consequences of breaching the terms of the agreement.  The obligations of the tenant are detailed as well as their rights with regard to service/response from the Council. The pre tenancy meeting also deals with anti social behaviour and the complaints system and legislation are both outlined.

Anti Social Behaviour Complaints

The following is a summary of the existing procedures in place in relation to Leitrim County Council investigating complaints of alleged Anti-Social Behaviour:

·        Anonymous complaints are not accepted or investigated by Leitrim County Council. 

·       Leitrim County Council has a complaints system to deal with complaints of anti-social behaviour. The Tenant Liaison Officer in the Housing Department will deal with such complaints. Complaints will be accepted in writing and all such complaints will be recorded.

·       The complaints system is a confidential service and every effort is made to protect the identity of the complainants.    Access to the complaints database is restricted and written records are secure at all times. 

·        Having regard to the level of resources available, complaints against unidentified persons will not be investigated.

·        All complaints are categorised, and if necessary an investigation is initiated within 7 working days. 

A Complaints Form is available from the Housing Department for completion and submission of any alleged incidents of Anti Social Behaviour – Complaints Form

Categories may, but not exclusively, include the following:

Category A- The manufacture, production, preparation, importation, exportation, sale, supply, possession for the purposes of sale or supply, or distribution of a controlled drug (within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Acts, 1977 and 1984)

Category B- Any behaviour which causes or is likely to cause any significant or persistent danger, injury, damage, loss or fear to any person living, working or otherwise lawfully in or in the vicinity of a house provided by a housing authority under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009, or a housing estate in which the house is situate and without prejudice to the foregoing includes violence, threats, intimidation, coercion, harassment or serious obstruction of any person.

Category C– those terms within the Tenancy Agreement which do not fall within Category A and B above.

The complainant will be updated with the progress of the investigation.

For persistent cases the complainant will be given the option to use a standardised form to record all details of anti-social activity to assist with possible legal action.  In addition, persons against whom persistent complaints have been received will be discussed with An Garda Síochána, where this is considered appropriate.

Investigating the Complaint:

Leitrim County Council will investigate every complaint in a fair, impartial and objective manner. The respondent may be interviewed. All allegations will be presented to the respondent and the complaints database will be updated. Following interviews any responses will be fully investigated and taken into account. If the Council determines that the respondent is involved in Anti-Social behaviour or has breached his/her Tenancy Agreement the matter will be dealt with in any (or all) the following ways:

• Verbal Warning at pre-arranged Meeting
• First Warning letter

·        Second Warning letter

·        Referral to An Garda Síochána

·        Referral to Health Service Executive

If the Council determines that the complaint is unfounded then no further action will be taken.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014

The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 amends and extends the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009.  The Act provides for the following:

·        Replacement provisions for section 62 of the Housing Act 1966 that provide for a revised procedure for repossessing local authority dwellings and provisions strengthening the power of housing authorities to secure court orders excluding individuals engaged in anti-social behaviour from local authority housing and estates.

Part 2:  Termination of Local Authority Tenancies

·        Section 6 to 18 of the 2014 Act provide for warnings to tenants relating to breaches of local authority tenancies and set down revised procedures for housing authorities to recover possession of their dwellings from households in serious breach of their tenancy agreements, including engaging in anti-social behaviour. 

·        The new legislation replaces section 62 of the Housing Act, 1966 which provided a summary mechanism for housing authorities to recover possession of dwellings where there is no tenancy in the dwelling or the tenancy has been terminated. 

·        Section 62 did not allow for a court hearing of the merits of the authority’s reasons for evicting the occupier, who could, nonetheless, contest the eviction in the High Court. 

·        Section 62 withstood judicial scrutiny over the years but the enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 resulted in a stream of litigation relating to section 62, claiming that the repossession procedure is incompatible with the Convention because it does not allow for an independent hearing of the merits of the proposed repossession.

·       Part 2 of the 2014 Act replaces section 62 of the Housing Act 1966 with new procedures set out in sections 12, 13 and 17 that involve an independent assessment of the merits of the proposed repossession.  Thus, under section 12 of the Act, a housing authority may seek a possession order in the District Court arising from a serious breach of the tenancy agreement for one of its dwellings, including engaging in anti-social behaviour and the court will adjudicate on the merits of the proposed recovery where the tenant disputes the basis for it.

·        Recovery of possession by the housing authority has the effect of terminating the tenancy in the dwelling.  Any party to a possession application may appeal the District Court’s decision to the Circuit Court.

·        Section 19 of the 2014 Act includes provisions for strengthening the power of housing authorities to secure court orders excluding individuals engaged in anti-social behaviour from local authority housing and estates.

Tenancy Warnings

Section 7 - Tenancy Warning relating to anti-social behaviour, etc

This enactment provides for the issuing by a housing authority of a tenancy warning, to a tenant, where he or she, or a household member, has, in the authority’s opinion, breached a term of the tenancy agreement that prohibits or is aimed at preventing anti-social behaviour.  The tenancy warning may be fitted into any stage of existing Housing Authority procedures.  Tenancy Warning is additional to, not a substitution for authority’s own procedures

·        Subsection (1) defines the expression ‘specified term’ used in section 7 to mean a term of a tenancy agreement that prohibits-

(a)    anti-social behaviour,

(b)    nuisance or conduct likely to cause annoyance or disturbance to neighbours,

(c)    the tenant from knowingly permitting a person to enter a dwelling against whom an excluding order or an interim excluding order is in force with regard to that dwelling.

·        Subsection (2) provides for the issue by a housing authority of a tenancy warning to a tenant, where the tenant or a member of his or her household has breached a specified term of the agreement

·        Subsection (3) provides that, subject to protecting – in accordance with subsection (5) – the identity of persons providing evidence of a breach of a specified term, the tenancy warning shall set out the basis for the warning and other relevant details as follows-

·        Paragraph (a) provides that the warning notice must specify the tenancy terms that has been breached, the nature and occasion of the breach, the name of the household member who caused the breach (if known), and, in appropriate cases, the detrimental effects of the breach on the quality of life of the local community;

·        Paragraph (b) provides that the warning notice will require the tenant to ensure that the person who breached the specified term ceases or does not repeat certain actions or takes specified actions to prevent the breach from recurring or continuing;

·        Paragraph (c) provides that the warning notice must advise the tenant that, if the breach continues or reoccurs within 12 months of the tenancy warning coming into effect, the housing authority may proceed to apply for a possession order under section 12 of the Act or may seen an excluding order against the person concerned;

·        Paragraph (d) provides that, for 3 years after a tenancy warning comes into effect, the housing authority may take account of the notice when considering whether to take the following actions in accordance with the relevant housing legislation-

- refuse to consent to the resale of the dwelling sold under tenant purchase or incremental purchase to a person identified in the tenancy warning as causing the breach of the specified term,

- refuse, under section 14(2) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997, to sell a dwelling to the tenant, eligible household or person concerned, or

-refuse, under section 14(1) of the 1997 Act, to allocate a dwelling, or defer that allocation, to a person or to the household member identified in the tenancy warning as having caused the breach,

·        Paragraph (e) provides that the warning notice must advise the tenant of his or her right to request a review of the tenancy warning under section 10 of the Act

Section 8 - Tenancy warning relating to Rent Arrears

This Section provides for the issuing of a Tenancy Warning to a Tenant who is in breach of a rent related obligation

Section 9 - Tenancy Warning relating to other Tenancy Breaches

This Section provides for the issuing of a Tenancy Warning to a Tenant who is in breach of a tenancy agreement other than breaches relating to anti-social behaviour and rent related arrears as provided for in Sections 7 & 8

Section 10  - Review of tenancy warning

This section provides, on request by the tenant where he or she does not accept that a breach of the tenancy agreement or rent-related obligation has occurred in the terms set out in a tenancy warning, for an internal review by a housing authority of a tenancy warning issued under section 7, 8 or 9.  A review request must normally be made within 10 working days of the issue of the warning outlining the grounds for the request and indication whether the tenant or a household member wishes to make oral representations (subsections (3) and (4).  Subsection (5) provides that the Minister may prescribe types of extenuating circumstances wherein the chief executive of the local authority will have discretion to extend the 10 working day limit for receipt of review request but the extended period may not exceed 20 working days from the date of issue of the warning

Further Details are available from:

The Housing Department,
Leitrim County Council,
Aras an Chontae,
Carrick on Shannon,
Co. Leitrim.
Telephone No. 071 9650426
E-Mail:  housing@leitrimcoco.ie