Threat of eviction could curb anti-social behaviour in social housing, says MP

Social housing tenants who engage in anti-social behaviour (ASB) should face the threat of eviction, claims MP.

Lee Anderson, Reform MP for Ashfield, told a Westminster Hall debate the threat of eviction could transform offenders into good social housing tenants.

Labour says tackling anti-social behaviour is a priority for the government, and the Renters’ Rights Bill will give more powers to social housing landlords to evict anti-social tenants.

Poor behaviour stopped straightaway

Mr Anderson, who tabled the debate, shared his experience of dealing with anti-social behaviour as a councillor and urged the government to introduce a deterrent to tackle ASB.

He told the debate: “When I was a local councillor in Ashfield, we had youths in the local park who were creating mayhem, making fires and attacking people — all sorts of horrible, feral behaviour.

“The local council and the police had a real problem trying to sort the issue out, but after a bit of an investigation we found that the parents of a lot of the youths who were causing problems lived in social housing on the nearby estate, so we wrote to every single one and said, “If your child carries this on, you are breaching your tenancy agreement and we might have to look at booting you out.”  The poor behaviour stopped straightaway — overnight.

“That is one option that I hope Ministers can look at for social housing tenants with poor behaviour. I believe in the “three strikes and you’re out” rule, where people are given one warning, then another, and on the third warning they are gone.

“Quite frankly, I am not that interested in where those people go to live. My focus and concern are the decent, hard-working people who put a shift in, have not got much money and rely on social housing.”

Too liberal and lenient

However, in a twist, the Labour MP for Mansfield, Steve Yemm, said a “three strikes and you’re out” policy was “too liberal and lenient”.

Intervening, Anderson responded he was “astounded” and asked Mr Yemm to agree to a “one-strike and you’re out” rule instead.

Mr Yemm agreed and said: “A “three strikes and you’re out” approach would take many, many years of them suffering this type of abuse.

“Councils in my area and many others are asking victims of antisocial behaviour in social housing to bear the burden of proof by taking their own recordings and notes and submitting them. Many constituents who attend my surgeries have gone through all the stress and anxiety of doing that on numerous occasions, having put their mental wellbeing and often their personal security at risk, only to then be told that the evidence does not meet the threshold required to instigate an intervention.

“Affording up to three strikes under the current system may well perpetuate the crisis, leaving some of those upstanding and decent social housing tenants at the mercy of problem tenants in neighbourhoods in my constituency.

“I fear that tenants in neighbouring properties would be subject to a process that could take years to conclude or that failed to do so because of loopholes and inconsistencies in their self-collected evidence.”

Mr Yemm adds councils should be given more powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Evicting people will not reduce anti-social behaviour

The Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson, Gideon Amos, told the debate a one-strike rule should be put in place with more powers given to police to tackle ASB.

He said: “Extending the one-strike approach we currently have to three strikes would simply be a soundbite and would make the law weaker, giving comfort and credence to the most antisocial culprits.

“The best deterrent would be to resource the powers and police forces we already have and to make them work. Simply evicting people onto the streets will not reduce the incidence of ASB — rather, it will move the antisocial behaviour from the house to the street, where all the evidence suggests it will only get worse.”

Legislation will make it easier for social housing landlords to take action against ASB

Alex Norris, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Growth and Building Safety, says the Labour government is tackling anti-social behaviour by putting more neighbourhood police officers into local communities.

He said: “Antisocial behaviour is not merely a nuisance but has devastating personal consequences. It corrodes people’s freedom, makes them not want to leave the house, damages their mental health and ultimately undermines their sense of home.

“That is why tackling antisocial behaviour is an important priority for this government through our safer streets mission.”

Mr Norris adds new legislation will make it easier for social housing landlords to take action against anti-social behaviour.

He said: “Through the Renters Rights’ Bill, we will enable housing association landlords to make a claim to a court for repossession immediately in the most serious cases, rather than having to provide a notice period, with all the harm that can happen in those cases.

“We will also amend the matters that judges must consider when deciding whether to award possession under the discretionary ground. This is very important — to give judges particular regard to whether tenants have engaged with efforts to resolve their behaviour and the impact on other tenants.”

Watch the exchange between Mr Yemm and Mr Anderson below regarding anti-social behaviour

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