Housing associations have been urged to roll up their sleeves and take the lead in tackling antisocial behaviour.
At its annual conference this week, the National Housing Federation revealed its ambition to boost the sector's profile as a key opponent of low-level crime and disorder as part and parcel of its rebranding exercise.

A paper released by the federation on Wednesday, Housing Associations: Tackling Antisocial Behaviour, details the tools available to housing associations to help them combat antisocial behaviour and provides details of successful case studies.

Jim Coulter, chief executive of the NHF, said: "Housing associations need to become better at dealing with antisocial behaviour.

"It is the perception of social housing along with antisocial behaviour that drives prejudice.

"[Housing associations need to make] much more active interventions. This document brings together best practice."

Coulter's comments follow the federation's decision in August to pull out of a cross-sector lobby group opposed to government proposals to dock antisocial tenants' housing benefit (HT 15 August, page 12). The group included homelessness charity Shelter, the Local Government Association and lawyers' group the Law Society.

Current practice is hugely variable and small associations have found it particularly difficult to get involved

Tim Winter, Social Landlords’ Crime and Nuisance Group

The federation, while also opposing the benefit docking proposals, sought to distance itself from the highly critical tone used by the umbrella group by urging government to "emphasise the alternatives".

The NHF's latest move will bolster calls to standardise the sector's approach to antisocial behaviour.

Earlier this month, a survey of 230 associations by the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group found that almost a third had no seat on their local crime and disorder reduction partnership (HT 12 September, page 13).

Source

Housing Today