Advice for tenants
If you’re a tenant of Dartford Borough Council and affected by anti-social behaviour, this page explains how you can report it to us and what we’ll do about it.
As a Council tenant, you have specific responsibilities which are set out in your tenancy agreement. This includes to not engage or threaten to engage in any anti-social behaviour, nuisance and annoyance.
The tenancy agreement is a legally binding contract. All reasonable steps will be taken to ensure you comply with its terms.
Council tenants can report anti-social behaviour to the Tenancy Services Team - contact details are on this page.
If you're making a report, you'll need to give your consent for your evidence to be used if you wish for the case to be investigated.
If the anti-social behaviour constitutes a criminal offence, you should also report this to Kent Police. If it’s an emergency where a crime is being committed or there is immediate danger, call 999. Non-urgent crimes can be reported on 101.
What do we need to know?
- What happened?
- Who’s involved?
- When did it happen?
- Where did it happen?
- Has it happened before?
- How has it affected you?
- Do you receive or are in need of support?
- Have you reported it to anyone else, such as the police if it’s a criminal matter?
How we'll respond
- We'll assess the seriousness of your report. If you're vulnerable or the anti-social behaviour is serious, we’ll treat this as high priority and contact you within 48 hours. For all other reports, contact will be made within 10 days
- We’ll ask for more information about what happened and for your consent to co-operate with information gathering and to talk to other agencies who may be able to help. We’ll notify the Police if a crime has been committed and it hasn’t already been reported to them
- We’ll investigate the report and find the best possible solution to deal with the issues
- We’ll keep your information confidential and only share it with your consent or where it’s lawful to do so
- We’ll keep you informed of progress and what action we’ll take
- We’ll let you know when we’ve decided to close the case and the reasons why it’s been closed
- We may contact you after the case is closed to check you’re happy with the service provided and that there’s been no further issues.
Supporting you
We’ll talk to you about any support you may need. We’ll contact you by the method that suits you the best, and can give information in alternative formats and provide language and British Sign Language interpreters
Support may be provided through other measures, for example, obtaining an injunction, or in very severe cases, arranging temporary or permanent rehousing
Assistance will be offered to support you if you’re going through the court process, accompanying and familiarising you with the court system
We can signpost you to a range of services who can provide emotional and practical support.
How we tackle anti-social behaviour
We aim to intervene early to prevent anti-social behaviour getting worse. Some examples of actions we may take include:
- Verbal and written warnings, including Community Protection Warnings (CPW) explaining the action we’ll take if the behaviour doesn’t stop
- Mediation – an independent third party helps to find a solution to a problem or dispute
- Acceptable Behaviour Agreements – the person causing the anti-social behaviour signs an agreement setting out what they will and will not do in the future
- Community Resolution – an informal agreement between the parties involved to resolve the issue
- Referring to support services – where the person causing the anti-social behaviour needs support to help change their behaviour. This may include a referral to Social Services, Police, drugs and/or alcohol services
If the behaviour is more serious or early intervention hasn’t resolved the problem, we can take enforcement action. Some examples of actions we may take include:
- Community Protection Notices – requires the behaviour to stop or actions to be taken to resolve the issue
- Undertakings – a civil order to stop or prevent individuals engaging in anti-social behaviour
- Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) – and individual or business can be issued with a fine if their behaviour persists
- Statutory Nuisance Abatement Notices – we can ask Environment Health Teams to issue an abatement notice
- Injunctions – a civil order to stop or prevent individuals engaging in anti-social behaviour
- Criminal Behaviour Orders – an order issued against a person who’s been convicted of an offence to tackle the most persistently anti-social individuals who are also engaged in criminal activity
- Closure Orders – an order to close premises which are being used to cause anti-social behaviour
- Demotion Orders – demoting a tenancy which reduces a tenant’s security of tenure and rights for 12 to 18 months
- Possession Proceedings – to gain a Possession Order and proceed to eviction
If you’re not satisfied
The ASB Case Review process, more commonly known as the Community Trigger, gives victims the right to request a review of their case. The Community Trigger can be used if; at least three incidents of anti-social behaviour have been reported to a relevant organisation, i.e. the Police, the Council or housing provider, within the previous six months and it is felt no action has been taken. These are incidents where the same behaviour, nuisance or problem has reoccurred and was reported within one month of it happening.
If you’re not satisfied with the service you’ve received, you can make a complaint using our Complaints Procedure.
You can also contact the Housing Ombudsman if you need further advice and support on making a complaint to us.