Anti-social Behaviour Policy 2025-2028 - ASB defined

Despite often being described as low-level crime, evidence suggests ASB can result in a range of negative emotional, behavioural, social, health and financial impacts - for individuals as well as communities. 

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 states that anti-social behaviour means:

a) conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person

b) conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person's occupation of residential premises

c) conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person 

ASB can impact people very differently. For example, household noise at a reasonable hour may go unnoticed by some households. For others, it could have a considerable impact where individuals feel significantly distressed.

For this reason, we consider complaints on a case-by-case basis and undertake a risk assessment. High risk cases and cases that involve vulnerable individuals take priority and will involve a multi-agency approach to tackle and resolve.

ASB can be several different things. Low level ASB can be a one-off argument. It could be an argument with a neighbour over the location of a refuse bin on collection day or an overhanging tree. On the other end of the spectrum, high level ASB could include criminal behaviour such as harassment, drug use or drug dealing. 

For the Community Safety Team to become involved, it needs to be a persistent and ongoing issue.

Some ASB can involve more than one type of behaviour. It can also escalate from a low-level situation to medium or high level, impacting more than one person or household. It is important to note that the nature of the ASB will determine which agency will lead on resolving it.

There are various ways a report of ASB can be made but it's important to clarify what is considered ASB and when it may be more appropriate to report another way or to another agency.

Examples of serious ASB including criminal behaviour are:

• revving car engines, racing, wheel spinning or playing loud music from a vehicle
• riding a motorbike or E-scooter in a public space to cause danger or annoyance
• domestic abuse
• non-domestic violence or threat of violence
• harassment (all types including malicious communication)
• hate-related incidents
• drug-related activity
• criminal damage
• drinking alcohol in the streets
• ASB involving groups and gatherings

These are to be reported to the police, especially if anyone's welfare is at risk. A report can be made to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary online or by phoning 101. In an emergency, 999 should be called.

If someone wants to remain anonymous, they can contact CrimeStoppers by phoning 0800 555111 or using their online form.

Environmental Health support

Environmental Health can support and often work in partnership with Community Safety on the following issues:

• problems with loud music
• nuisance neighbours
• unoccupied dangerous buildings
• discarded needles
• mediation
• graffiti and littering
• cases where safeguarding is a concern

Not all issues are investigated by Environmental Health. They may work with partner agencies to look into complaints. Before a report is made, environmental health guidance can be found on our website.

Civil disputes over parking and property boundaries need the expertise of professionals. In these situations, a solicitor can be contacted for advice. Community Safety would not investigate cases on these matters.

If a complaint is about a person who lives in a housing association property, the housing provider should be contacted directly.

Issues we can't help with

The following are not defined as ASB issues and we will be unable to provide support:

• footsteps or walking on wooden or laminate flooring
• slamming doors
• moving furniture
• intermittent banging
• DIY at a reasonable hour
• children playing or crying
• people talking
• noise generated from domestic appliances at a reasonable hour
• cooking smells
• children playing outdoors in the locality of their home or ball games
• one-off parties
• car repairs
• actions which amount to people being unpleasant to each other
• people staring
• people snoring
• complaints about other people’s lifestyles that may offend you, including who people socialise with, parenting styles, how people dress

We acknowledge that poor sound insulation is a problem in many houses and flats. It can often result in hearing domestic noise from a neighbour. This can be a nuisance for some people, especially those who are sensitive to noise, but there is an expectation of hearing a certain amount of living noise from neighbours and most are not classed as ASB.

We ask that everyone is considerate to their neighbours and those living around them. This is particularly important late at night and early in the morning.

At times, those involved in the dispute are best placed to resolve the issue. We would always encourage this approach as the first step. Read our top 10 handy tips to help with speaking to neighbours and resolving a dispute without Community Safety team involvement 

If the ASB is not covered by the above, it can be reported to the Community Safety team. All reports are risk-assessed. We look at the impact, how often it is happening and whether it is escalating.