Reporting antisocial behaviour

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is behaviour that causes nuisance, alarm, or distress to others. Examples include:

loud or persistent noise
harassment or intimidation
aggressive or threatening behaviour
hate incidents
domestic abuse
environmental problems - such as rubbish, vandalism
Illegal activity linked to a council tenancy

Read more about how we can help you deal with incidents of ASB:

How to report antisocial behaviour
Response times
What happens after you report antisocial behaviour
Support you can expect
Approaching your neighbour
Housing Management Officers
The Community Safety Hub
Safer York Partnership
Antisocial Behaviour Case Review

How to report antisocial behaviour

If you have a complaint about your neighbour’s behaviour and are:

a council tenant, or you need to complain about a council tenant, contact your Housing Management Officer (HMO)
a leaseholder, or you need to complain about a leaseholder, contact our Leaseholder Team
a housing association tenant, or you need to complain about a housing association tenant, contact the relevant housing association

If you're not a council or housing association tenant, see information about antisocial noise nuisance for how to report a range of noise-related complaints.

If reporting a crime, contact the police on 101 if a non-emergency.

If you wish to report a crime that is hate related see the council's Hate Crime webpage.

You can report a problem with your neighbour by phone, by letter to Housing Services, or by the Open Housing Portal if you're a council tenant.

You can contact the relevant HMO via the Open Housing Portal if you're a council tenant, or by sending an email to: housing.central@york.gov.uk, email: hmo.east@york.gov.uk and email: hmo.west@york.gov.uk.

You can also download our antisocial behaviour policy.

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Response times

We will usually contact you within 3 working days.

We will contact you within 24 hours (on working days) for hate incidents or domestic abuse.

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What happens after you report antisocial behaviour

Your HMO will contact you and complete a risk assessment. If needed, they will open a case and agree an action plan with you. They will speak to the person causing the problem and may involve other agencies. If the person responsible has vulnerabilities (such as mental health issues), support will be offered to them.

If the behaviour continues, the council may take legal action. You’ll receive regular updates, usually every 2 weeks. If the issue can’t be resolved, the case may be passed to the Community Safety Hub for more formal action.

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Support you can expect

We can help by:

keeping a record of your reports
giving regular updates
visiting you at home or meeting you elsewhere
referring you to support services
providing noise‑monitoring equipment
improving safety measures at your home
working with other agencies (such as the police, Victim Support)
helping you attend court if needed

The action we can take will depend on the sort of complaint and the level of seriousness.

If the situation does not improve and there is evidence to support it, we will refer the case to the Antisocial Behaviour Team in the Community Safety Hub.

We'll keep you fully informed of the action we take and our progress in a way that suits your needs.

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Approaching your neighbour

Some complaints can be worked out by neighbours speaking to one another.

Some tips on approaching a neighbour:

choose a time that's convenient for everyone
plan what you are going to say
be polite and explain the problem and how it’s affecting you
listen to what they have to say
be understanding of different ways of life
be open to suggestions
come to an agreement that suits everyone

You should not:

approach the neighbour if you don't feel safe
go around when you are angry or very upset
be argumentative or use threatening behaviour

If you feel you cannot approach your neighbour yourself, consider whether you have a friend or relative who could act on your behalf.

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Housing Management Officers

If approaching the neighbour does not work or is not appropriate, the relevant Housing Management Officer (HMO) for your area will carry out an investigation to establish the full facts and details of the problem.

The HMO will contact you. They will consider the impact the problem is having on the complainant, the frequency of incidents and whether the tenancy agreement has been broken.

The HMO will decide whether the report will be dealt with under the Good Neighbourhood Management Procedure or under the Antisocial Behaviour process.

If the report is to be dealt with by the Good Neighbourhood Management Process the HMO will consider mediation and informal ways of resolving the dispute.

The HMO can visit and write, can issue informal warnings to tenants, consider referrals to other agencies, other practical solutions, and will always consider a referral to mediation.

Where the case is being dealt with under the Antisocial Behaviour process, the HMO will still consider mediation, referrals to support, and speak to other neighbours, but may issue formal warnings.

If there is no evidence, they will investigate and see if they can collect any evidence.

In both Good Neighbourhood Management cases and those being dealt with under Antisocial Behaviour processes, we'll develop an action plan with you so you know what to expect and we will discuss what information we may need from you to progress the case, such as keeping and returning diary sheets.

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The Community Safety Hub

The York Community Safety Hub consists of officers from North Yorkshire Police, CYC Anti-social Behaviour Team and Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers, working together to provide a coordinated response to anti-social behaviour across the city.

The Anti-Social Behaviour team

We will discuss the case with the complainant and the subject of the complaint.

We discuss cases with our legal services team, where there is sufficient evidence, we can take legal action. This could be:

possession proceedings
an injunction against the individual
close down premises for a period of time

We will support the complainant throughout the court proceedings. If you wish to speak to an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer call on telephone: 01904 551555.

Neighbourhood Enforcement Team

Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers are responsible for the enforcement of anti-social behaviour and Environmental Crime across all properties in York. Officers have a wide remit that includes responsibility for the enforcement of domestic noise nuisance, dumped and mis-presented domestic and commercial waste (including fly-tipping and Duty of Care offences), dog fouling and control, littering and unauthorised encampments.

Officers are authorised to issue Community Protection Warnings and Notices which can be used to deal with a wide variety of Anti-social behaviour offences affecting the quality of life of people in the vicinity, such as noxious odours, unsightly gardens and properties.

The Neighbourhood Enforcement Team provide a Noise Patrol Service each Friday and Saturday from 2100-0230 when officers can be called out to respond to noise nuisance complaints.

The team can be contacted on telephone: 01904 551555, or email: neo@york.gov.uk.

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Safer York Partnership

We're part of the Safer York Partnership, dedicated to making communities safer across York.

It includes representatives from:

North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
the Probation Service
Public Health
York Council for Voluntary Service (York CVS)

Every tenant has the right to enjoy living in their home in peace and comfort. This means that all tenants, must show consideration, think of others and be a ‘good neighbour’. This is one of the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement.

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