Living in your home

Nuisance or neighbour problems

To make sure our communities are pleasant places to live, the tenancy conditions say that you must behave reasonably and not do anything in or around your home or community that is illegal, a nuisance or an annoyance to other people.

You are responsible for the behaviour of everyone in your household, including children, lodgers and your visitors.

Examples of nuisance or annoyance that we may consider to be breaking your tenancy include:

dogs that are allowed to bark loudly or continuously, or wander;
loud noise (this may include arguing, screaming, shouting, slamming doors, DIY-related noise, TVs, CB radios or musical instruments);
allowing members of your household or your visitors to
cause nuisance to other residents; and
criminal activity.

What should I do if I am having problems with a neighbour?

You should try to speak to your neighbour to tell them they are causing some difficulties, and try to sort out the problems between yourselves.

If this is not successful, you should contact us, preferably in writing, and we will tell you the best way in which to deal with the problem. This may involve mediation.

Please contact us for more information.

Harassment

You must not harass or intimidate anyone in your community because of their colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, sex, marital status, sexuality, age or disability.

Harassment includes:

violence or threats towards other residents, members of your own household or visitors;
abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards anyone;
damage or threats of damage to property;
writing threatening letters or graffiti; and
abusive or violent behaviour to our staff, or anyone acting on our behalf.

We have adopted the definition of a racist incident recommended by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. 'A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.' We will investigate all incidents that meet this definition.

Racial harassment is defined as a specific act intended or likely to intimidate, offend or harm an individual or group because of their ethnic origin, colour, race, religion or nationality.

Racial harassment can take many forms, and we cannot list them all. Examples of the types of racial harassment that we will not accept are:

repeated door knocking;
verbal abuse, face to face or over the phone;
bullying children on their journey to or from school;
dumping rubbish outside someone's home, or through a letterbox;
tampering with or damaging cars;
damaging the home;
malicious complaints - especially to those in authority;
racist graffiti;
abusive notes or letters; and
threatening behaviour and actual assault.

What should you do if you are suffering harassment?

Contact the police.
Contact us.
Contact other independent agencies (for example, the Somerset Race Equality Council).

What can we do if you are having problems with a neighbour or you are suffering harassment?

If the person causing a nuisance or harassment is one of our tenants, we can contact them.
If the person causing a nuisance or harassment is not one of our tenants, we can only offer advice and support.
We will maintain confidentiality at all times.
We may ask you to keep a record of the times and types of nuisance being caused.
If the matter is serious, we can take legal action but you may need witnesses.
In extreme circumstances, if the court is convinced that the nuisance is serious, the tenant causing the nuisance could be evicted from their home.
Under the conditions of the Housing Act 1996, we can apply for an injunction. This could stop the tenant from being a nuisance to other people. The court may attach a power of arrest to any injunction.
The council can serve an abatement notice to stop anyone from causing a noise nuisance or other public health nuisance.

Relationship breakdowns

We recognise that relationship breakdowns are traumatic experiences in people's lives and staff will deal with all the issues in a sensitive, confidential and skilled way, making sure that they give suitable advice and support.

If you need advice and support, please contact your Neighbourhood Services Section on 01749 334455.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse usually occurs between two or more people in the same household, and can affect neighbours and residents in a similar way as antisocial behaviour.

We view domestic abuse as breaking the tenancy conditions. It can also be a criminal offence.

Our response to any reports of domestic abuse will be focused on the wishes of the victim, but will recognise the rights of neighbours and other residents to live in a peaceful and safe environment.