Antisocial behaviour

Reporting antisocial behaviour

In most cases we need you to tell us what has happened. We then investigate and gather evidence to support or disprove a claim.

We deal with all claims confidentially and as a priority.

To report antisocial behaviour, you can:

• call us on 0191 525 5000 and select option 4 or 0800 028 4445
• fill in the report antisocial behaviour form
• visit your local office
• send us a message on social media, like Facebook and Twitter

If you need urgent support or are in an emergency, you can call the police on 999 or 101. You can also register with emergencySMS so you can send text messages to the police.

If you have concerns about a dangerous dog, you should contact the police on 999, in the case of an emergency where there is an immediate risk to safety, or 101 in a non-emergency situation.  

If someone makes an antisocial behaviour complaint that is false or malicious, we may consider the complaint to be antisocial behaviour.

Our approach to antisocial behaviour

We have specialists who give support based on the needs of the people involved.

We always try to:

• respond quickly and decisively
• investigate and get involved as early as possible to prevent the situation from getting more serious
• gather evidence to support or disprove a claim
• manage the expectations of those involved, including what we can and cannot do, and how long it might take
• offer support and reasonable adjustments
• mediate disputes
• involve or refer people to other agencies

We will only evict a customer after trying everything else first.

If the person behaving in an antisocial way is not a customer, we will do whatever we can to protect our customers. If the person is a customer, we will do whatever we can to protect private-rented customers or homeowners.

Find out more about the different types of help and support we provide.

What we class as antisocial behaviour

Antisocial behaviour is anything that causes or is likely to cause you to feel alarmed, distressed, intimidated or harassed. It includes:

• aggressive or threatening behaviour, like stalking
• criminal and illegal activity in or near your home and neighbourhood, like dealing drugs, handing stolen goods, illegal money lending, and prostitution
• perpetrating domestic abuse
• graffiti
• illegally dumping rubbish, fly tipping and setting fires
• hate crime
• neglect and intentional damage to a home or garden
• serious disagreements between neighbours
• violent behaviour, both physical and verbal, towards neighbours, the public or Gentoo staff

It also includes disturbances from things like:

• alcohol or drug misuse
• animals, including uncontrolled animals, barking and smells
• noise
• overcrowded homes, where you have allowed more people to move into your home without our permission

Things we do not class as antisocial behaviour

This includes:

• banging doors or closing doors
• car parking disputes
• children playing
• day-to-day living noise
• dogs barking if it is a short or isolated incident
• one-off parties
• social media and email disputes, unless it is part of wider harassment
• talking in loud voices
• using showers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and other appliances at reasonable times of the day
• walking up and down stairs
• young children crying