Councils and housing association landlords must tackle antisocial behaviour

Council and housing association landlords must play a “key role” in tackling antisocial behaviour, according to government guidance published today.

It says that landlords must ensure the community takes issues of antisocial behaviour and the government’s Respect agenda seriously and involve residents in decision-making.

Residents should be encouraged to hold their landlords to account and the Audit Commmission will strengthen guidelines on measuring landlords’ effectiveness in dealing with antisocial behaviour, according to the new guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Launching the Respect standard for housing management, government co-ordinator for Respect Louise Casey urged landlords to sign up to the guidance.

“Strong housing management where landlords take swift action to tackle antisocial behaviour can make a real difference to tenants and the wider community. Tenants should expect their landlords to protect them from unacceptable behaviour,” she said.