Call the cops

This matter should be dealt with only by the police or by an entirely independent agency. It is neither right nor just to give a party in a contractual relationship (tenant and landlord) such power over the other.

In which other contract where a payment is exchanged for use of a property does one party have such powers over the other? Where is the constitutional basis for it?

It also raises the question of why a private landlord should not have the same power over its tenants.

In law, the divide between being an RSL’s tenant and a private tenant has widened so much that they have become two different kind of citizens, treated differently.

RSLs’ harassment of their tenants is nothing new. How can tenants protect themselves from an RSL’s harassment if it has such a power over them?

Can a tenant harassed by an RSL expect objectivity from the landlord in case of a neighbours’ dispute?

And what about antisocial behaviour that
is caused by an RSL’s failure to carry out its duties? Disputes arising among tenants because of lack of acoustic insulation, for example, are rife.

Michele Celeste, Comment made at www.housing-today.co.uk

Nasir Hafezi’s article on the role of registsred social landlords in tackling antisocial behaviour raises some interesting points.

In many cases, the police are the best people to deal with antisocial behaviour, but has Hafezi tried to contact the police recently?

In London, when you eventually get to speak to a police officer, they will invariably tell residents that antisocial behaviour is the responsibility of the council or landlord. They will say their job is to deal with “serious crime”.

Maybe Hafezi should try to get his article published in one of the police magazines.

Mike Davies, London N8