Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) affects the safety or wellbeing of groups of people or individuals.

What is anti-social behaviour

ASB is behaviour that has caused or is likely to cause:

harassment, alarm or distress to any person
nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises
housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person

Examples of anti-social behaviour

Nuisance behaviour

When someone causes disturbance, annoyance, or inconvenience to others within the community. This may include:

excessive noise
disruptive conduct
other actions that negatively impact living conditions

Cuckooing

When a person or group of people take over a home without the occupant's consent for the purpose of drug dealing or other criminal activities. Vulnerable residents are more likely to be a target of cuckooing.

Dangerous dogs

Dogs that pose a threat to the safety of people or other animals due to their aggressive behaviour. Laws and regulations typically define certain breeds as dangerous, and owners may be held responsible for the actions of their dogs.

Street or residential drug dealing

Involves the illegal sale, distribution, or exchange of drugs in public areas or within residential premises. It is a criminal activity that poses risks to community safety and wellbeing.

Verbal abuse

When someone uses offensive, disrespectful or threatening language towards another. This behaviour can contribute to a hostile or intimidating environment and may be considered a form of verbal harassment.

Physical abuse

When someone uses aggressive, unwanted physical contact towards another person. Some examples include hitting with objects, slapping, pinching, choking, kicking, spitting and shoving.

Vandalism

Involves the intentional destruction or defacement of property that belongs to someone else. This may include:

graffiti
breaking windows
damaging vehicles
any other malicious acts that result in harm to property

Intimidation or harassment

When someone deliberately uses threats, coercion, or unwanted behaviour to create fear, distress, or unease in another person.

Noise nuisance

Noise nuisance refers to excessive or disruptive noise that interferes with the peace and quiet of an environment. This can include:

loud music
shouting
any other noise that causes annoyance or disturbance to others.

This may be more impactful during quiet hours.

What is not anti-social behaviour

Other people's behaviour can sometimes be inconvenient, but is not necessarily anti-social. For example:

noise that is:
- not persistent
- unintentional
- occurs during normal daily working hours
walking across a wooden floor while wearing shoes
mowing the lawn or using mechanical garden tools
having an untidy gardens
children playing football on grassed areas
children playing outside and possibly arguing with each other
one-off events such as parties or religious festivals (within reason)
general family lifestyle noise, such as:
- using a vacuum cleaner
- using a dishwasher or washing machine
- talking loudly
- people entering and leaving a property at unusual hours, such as night shift workers
making smells from cooking

Report

For incidents where there is criminal, or suspected criminal activity, you should first report it to the police.

If a crime is in progress or you feel you, or any other person, is in immediate danger of harm, call the police on 999.
If you are not in immediate danger and the matter is of a criminal nature (e.g., theft, robbery, violence, drug dealing) please call the police on 101 (non-emergency number).
If you wish to report crime anonymously then you can report this to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or by reporting via their website.

Street issues

To report a street issue, like abandoned vehicles or dog fouling, go to street issues.

Noise

To report excessive noise made by your neighbours, go to noise nuisance.

Other anti-social behaviour involving a council tenant

If you're a council tenant or the person responsible for the ASB is a council tenant, you should make a report to the estate's housing officer.

Find housing officer contact details for the estate

Council tenant anti-social behaviour policy

Read our policy document: Help for Hounslow Council housing tenants experiencing anti-social behaviour and hate crime (PDF)