Antisocial behaviour is a serious issue that can have a significant impact on people's lives. As a tenant-led housing association, we continue to take robust action to tackle it wherever possible. Since October 2016, we have evicted three tenants responsible for antisocial behaviour using legislation that allows landlords to take possession of a property if a tenant has been convicted of a serious offence or found by a court to have breached an injunction relating to antisocial behaviour.

This mandatory grounds for possession has allowed us to evict a tenant in Lane End who was convicted of drug-related offences, including storing large amounts of Class A drugs within his home. Due to the nature of his conviction and the length of his sentence, we were able to apply for and obtain possession of the property. The tenant was sentenced to a term of five years’ imprisonment.

In Micklefield, we obtained an injunction against a tenant who was causing nuisance with drunken behaviour, noise and threatening neighbours. The tenant immediately breached the injunction by physically assaulting his neighbour and was subsequently sentenced to 15 weeks in prison. The breach meant that we could make an application for mandatory possession of the property. We successfully regained possession of the home when the court agreed that his behaviour was unacceptable and causing a negative impact on those living around him.

In the third case, a tenant was convicted of numerous burglaries within the immediate area of his home in Marlow. He was sentenced to serve 40 months in prison and we successfully obtained a possession order at court.

Most recently, we obtained a possession order on a property in Wycombe town centre that was being used for drugs, where six police warrants had been executed during the 14 months the tenants had lived there. In addition, we evicted a tenant from Micklefield who caused a nuisance to his neighbours over a period of three years with noise and drunken and threatening behaviour. Working with the local community affected by this behaviour, as well as the police, was essential in both these cases.

We take a firm stance on antisocial behaviour and sometimes eviction is necessary to stop these problems affecting the local community. We would always encourage our tenants to report instances of antisocial behaviour so that we can help resolve the situation and improve the lives of our tenants and the neighbourhoods where they live.

For more information on antisocial behaviour and how to report it, please see the antisocial behaviour page on our website.