the sector is running out of time to prevent important powers used by landlords to fight nuisance being removed in the Antisocial Behaviour Bill.
The House of Lords will vote on the law on 23 October. It passed through the committee stage without the threat to the powers being lifted and Tim Winter, national coordinator for the Social Landlords' Crime and Nuisance Group, said he was still concerned RSLs' powers to take out injunctions would be lessened. "There's still an opportunity to change this," he said. "We're going to do everything we can, including lobbying [Antisocial Behaviour Unit director] Louise Casey directly."

He said section 13 of the bill overturned social landlords' ability, enshrined in the 1996 Housing Act, to raise an injunction against antisocial residents who aren't their own tenants.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We're aware of the concerns but we believe the bill actually strengthens the powers that [associations] have."

The news comes as the department prepares to announce a new hardline package of measures to help landlords tackle antisocial behaviour on 14 October.

n Greenwich council is dedicating a team to tackle residents' fear of testifying against antisocial tenants. The problem causes the collapse of 30,000 prosecutions a year.

Source

Housing Today