Solutions to Problems with Neighbours Everyone Should Know

People often face problems with neighbours who listen to loud music or let their dogs bark for hours. Those responsible for causing nuisance often intend to do it, or at least they are aware of problems they cause to ohers. But, you do not have to tolerate it. You can talk with these people to persuade them to change. If it does not work, there are plenty of other solutions about which you should know to fight for safety and peace for your family. But, what solutions are there?

One of the solutions is an injunction which can be granted either by the County Court or a Youth court. It depends on whether it is for an adult or a person under 18. The police and the council have a power to apply for it. So, you can ask these institutions for help. But, what is an injunction?

An injunction is an order to stop doing a certain thing or to undertake certain actions to solve the source if the problem.To be awarded the court must be satisfied that someone has been egaged or threatened to be engaged in activities which can cause nuisance. Its breach leads to a maximum of two years imprisonment for adults and three months of detention order for teenagers between 14 and 17 as a contempt of court. Because breach of an injunction is not a criminal offence people can change their behaviour without stigma of having criminal records.

In more serious cases of anti-social behaviour a Criminal Behaviour Order can be put in place. It is very similar to an injunction in a way that it will also implement positive obligations on the perpetrators. The only difficulty is that only the Crown Prosecution Service can apply for it, on its own initiative or on a request of the council or the police. Moreover, this order can only be implemented by the Crown Court and Magistrates court if the perpetrators are adults. These are criminal courts so the burden of proof is higher than in civil courts. Therefore, the court must be satisfied that the alleged offender has committed behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress, and that future anti-social behaviour can be prevented. But, the court can consider hearsay evidence.

Nevertheless, the order can be granted for a minimum of two years against adults and between one year and three years for people under 18. Breach of this order is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonemnt for adults and two years detention and training for people under 18. So, because of serious consequences of its breach, the criminal behaviour order is a very promising solution to issues with neighbours.  

But, there are many other options available to choose from such as eviction of anti-social tenants as introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Another one, also introduced by this act, is the Community remedy which allows victims to say which punishment they would prefer to be placed on the perpetrator of an offence, for example, to clean up graffiti. The Community Protection Notice can also be implemented in such cases as it allows local authorities and the police to stop long-term environmental anti-social behaviour. It may involve cases relating to noise, graffiti and rubbish.

Another possibility is a Public Space Protection Order which allows the council to deal with a serious problem in a local community by imposing universal conditions on the use of the area, for example, restricting the consumption of alcohol. The closure power of the police and the council works even further and allows these autorities to close premises where anti-social behaviour has been committed or was likely to be committed. The police on its own also has power to disperse anti-social individuals and even to confiscate related items.

Even if problems with anti-social behaviour last for a long time it is worth to keep fighting. It is because, if anti-social behaviour occured three or more times in the least 6 months and the problem has not been solved, multi-agency case review can be demanded by an individual.

So, there are plenty of options to choose from to deal with anti-social behaviour. These should be implemented as you cannot allow people to cause nuisance to you and others. But, in order to enable the police and the council to fight this type of behaviour you have to act first by seeking these solutions.







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