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Welcome!

Welcome to the learning4housing blog. I will be posting my thoughts and opinions on a range of issues facing the social housing sector. You are more than welcome to post your comments, whether you agree or disagree on the points. The aim here is to stimulate some debate on these issues, whether they are about current government policy or about best practice in housing management or strategy.

Learning4housing
is an independent training provider for the social housing sector. We cover a wide range of subject areas, including anti-social behaviour, homelessness, resident involvement, void control, choice-based lettings, and complaints management, as well as personal skills development around communication, negotiation, assertiveness, influencing, managing people, etc. Please visit the main website for more information at www.learning4housing.co.uk

Please call David on 07986 246406 to discuss your training needs and how we can help, or email at skills@learning4housing.co.uk


Monday, March 7

Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions

Although the government is planning to abolish the s153 housing injunctions that were introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, there is no need to stop using these remedies for dealing with a wide range of ASB activity. It could be some time before the proposals turn into something more concrete, and finally turn into legislation and enacted. Therefore, if you are having to deal with cases of anti-social behaviour that do not warrant outright eviction - and some would argue that this is not an effective remedy as it only moves the problem elsewhere - then the use of injunctions can be very useful. And post-Pinnock, many social landlords are looking towards other remedies as possession may not be deemed as being proportionate. 

The aim of an injunction is to try to change the offending behaviour rather than to punish the perpretator. Injunctions can be quick to obtain and can be less expensive than using possession. The threat of an unlimited fine and/or up to two years imprisonment for contempt of court can often be successful in stopping the ASB. Some social landlords use this remedy whilst they are waiting for possession cases to be heard in order to prevent a continuation of the behaviour or the intimidation of witnesses. Injunctions can include exclusion orders and the power of arrest for the most serious cases, but injunctions can also be used to deal with those lower-level 'nuisance' cases which can sometimes be very difficult to address. The new government proposals for anti-social behaviour include the use of a new injunction to replace the existing ones, so it has been recognised that these legal tools can be very useful. 

For more information on the use of injunctions for tackling anti-social behaviour, please contact me on 07986 246406 or at skills@learning4housing.co.uk

David Wardle