Everyone has the right to enjoy their home in peace.

From time to time anti-social behaviour can affect our communities and when it does, we take this very seriously.

In general terms, anti-social behaviour is any action that can cause nuisance or annoyance.

Use the information on this page and our A-Z of anti-social behaviour to help you work out what is and is not anti-social behaviour, what steps you need to take and what we will do to help.

Our Good Citizen Guide takes a look through the most common issues we see and gives advice on how to be a good neighbour. To read it click here.

You can read our Anti Social Behaviour and Hate Crime Policy here.

We we will always be honest about what we can do and how we will support you to resolve the problem.

We appreciate that some behaviours can be upsetting and distressing for you but our powers our limited and we will not investigate the following reports:

• Household noise created by light switches being turned on or off, flushing toilets; doors opening and closing; washing machines, vacuum cleaners or other household appliances
• People talking at normal volume in their home
• Babies crying (unless you are reporting a safeguarding concern) and children playing
• Cooking smells
• One off parties/BBQs where there is no evidence of a repeat incident
• Minor personal differences, such as receiving dirty looks or children falling out.

For advice on how to try to resolve issues yourself visit our useful information section below.

If you contact us about anti-social behaviour we will:

• contact you within five working days, or sooner depending on the seriousness of the incident
• ask you to give us evidence so that we can assess what we can do considering the type of anti-social behaviour you are reporting. We may ask you to keep a diary of incidents or report incidents to the police and give us the log number
• listen to you and be honest about what we can do
• agree an action plan with you and tell you what we can do and what you can do to help to resolve things
• keep you informed of any progress and ask you to keep in touch with us until the matter is resolved
• give you support and guidance if you engage with us and help by supplying evidence. If you don’t do this the actions we can take are limited and we may have to close your case
• treat information in strict confidence.

The anti-social behaviour case review gives victims and communities the right to request a case review to examine how local agencies have responded to previous anti-social behaviour complaints and consider whether further action should be taken. To find out more about how the anti-social behaviour review process works visit the government’s anti-social behaviour case review web page.