Nuisance Neighbours of Council Tenants including noise

1. The Housing Division will only take legal action against its own tenants. If a resident in a private property causes the nuisance other Divisions of the Council may be able to take action or we can work in partnership with other organisations such as the Police or Housing Associations to take action. It may be appropriate to use a mediation service to help resolve certain disputes.

2. A Council Officer will contact your neighbour. The issue will be discussed to establish if there is a problem. If there is the tenant will be requested to take steps to remedy the situation.

3. Most tenants co-operate. However if the problem persists further action is taken. You will be advised of the officer dealing with the issue. This is likely to be the Tenancy Enforcement Officer. You will be asked to keep her informed. This will be in the form of verbal reports as well as the diary mentioned above. The Council will provide you with log sheets to help you with this. Your co-operation will be essential.

4. The Council is fair to all of its tenants. It must therefore satisfy itself that there is a case to answer. In order to do this it will liaise with other agencies to share information and establish the nature of the problem. It will also help if more than one neighbour complains. This can prevent any argument that the complaint is malicious.

5. If the Housing Division is satisfied that there is a neighbour nuisance problem that it can deal with it will need to monitor the tenancy very closely The Tenancy Enforcement Officer will also want to consult other neighbours that may be affected. After every incident you report the Council will contact your neighbour both in person and in writing. It will be made clear to them that their behaviour is unacceptable.

6. As the investigation proceeds the complainant will be kept informed both verbally and in writing about its progress. In most cases the officer who makes first contact will be the case officer however if this changes the complainant will be informed.

7. Cases will be reviewed on a monthly basis to review progress. At the time of the review the complainant will be contacted to discuss any current issues.