Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
New powers to evict tenants that persistently indulge in anti-social behaviour
Housing Minister Grant Shapps recently announced plans to speed up the time it sometimes takes to evict tenants that persistently indulge in anti-social behaviour. He has proposed a new mandatory power for possession, enabling previous convictions for anti-social behaviour to be taken into account to shorten the often long legal process.
''Trigger' offences, to enable this new mandatory power to be used, are likely to inclu
- a conviction for a serious housing-related offence - including violence against neighbours, drug dealing and criminal damage
- breach of an injunction for anti-social behaviour - where the social landlord has obtained, or is party to, the injunction
- closure of a premises under a closure order - for example where a property has been used for drug dealing.
It is estimated that the Courts make 3,000 eviction orders for anti-social behaviour against social tenants each year. According to the Government, survey data indicates that it takes on average seven months from applying for a possession order to being granted one.
A consultation seeking views on these proposed powers can be accessed here.
(Thanks to Councilor Canver for the heads up on this one).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Which came first, the criminals or the lack of disapproval for their presence?
I do have sympathy for people living next to unruly neighbours, especially if it's past having a bit of guts to deal with it (and I belatedly and humbly acknowledge that it can be). That said, I don't want a law that can be used against shouty, leary, families. A neighbours from hell law will be used by middle class people to get rid of the riff raff as much as it will be used to deal with real criminals.
It's quite sad that people have such appalling relationships with their neighbours, is a new law really the answer?
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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John what we're talking about here is not unruliness but serious and distressing behaviour that makes people ill. I understand what you say but what is being outlined above is still the end of a process. One could equally suggest that if a household has ignored convictions for housing related offences, injunctions and premise closure and continue to make neighbours lives hell, then we have gone beyond simply having "appalling relationships" into callous disregard.
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Then we're back to my original question. Surely there are laws to deal with this already and they're not being enforced appropriately? I watched a strapping young police officer outside my work in the city this evening telling off a cyclist for not walking his Boris bike to the road. Surely such zeal in enforcement of the current laws is all we need?
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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Liz, I do have experience of this.. the young couple who lived next door to me, both young, good looking and good earners.. got on to drugs hardtime.. the parties got louder, the visits from the dealers waiting to get paid, got louder.. fireworks shot out of windows at New Year..
They've gone now .. and their appartment is empty ... even so, I still wouldn't want yet more laws designed to 'prove' that the government is actually doing something..
I agree with John.. I imagine problems could be handled under existing laws..
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I think the point is they are handled under existing laws but the process is slow and previously did not allow a history of anti-social activity to be taken into account. As far as I can see this is about strengthening the council's hand against people who show no regard for the law or how their flouting of it destroys the health and well being of their neighbours.
To return (again) to Alan's points: why is this power only to be against council tenants, both the cases I know involved private landlords, and can we be certain that this power would not be used to punish whole families for individuals behaviour?
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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This has been reported on the BBC middle part of this year. The central point is taking into account previous convictions for anti-social behaviour. For some reason this wasn't taken into account before.
Harringay had it's own notorious family of Fairfax Rd who caused absolute chaos, until they were moved on to Muswell Hill, where they managed to get themselves into The Sun (no doubt with the help of a campaigning neighbour!). John McMullan strangely took pitty on them!! I'm sure he'll explain himself here.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Now Matt, just because Irish Travellers have solved the Eastern European immigrant problem by supplying accommodation and employment through the re-invention of slavery doesn't mean you're free to parade the O'Leary-Walsh house-refurbishment outfit of Fairfax and Muswell Hill. Coming from an Irish family of eleven myself, and often having had the arse out of my trousers, I'm feeling under a bit of pressure on this thread. There must be place on HOL for a bit of honest ragged-trousered misanthropy, so if you see me shambling along Wightman flicking through my well-thumbed Engels, please do not disturb but pass quietly on the other side.
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Don't take offence that people cross to the other side of Wightman Road OAE, we have no choice if we want to get past one another.
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I'm sure you can quote me chapter and verse on Engels, Mr F, but I particularly like the bit where he suggests that the Irish are content not to patch their clothes and that their bad examples lead the honest English worker to abandon certain standards. Somewhat reminded me of Mr D Starkey who was under the impression that if English boys and girls were still listening to wholesome English music, perhaps the oeuvre of Sir Cliff de Richard, and not the alluring but dangerous rhythms of the Caribbean then they would not have been driven to run off with the running shoes of Mr JD Sports or the shiny, shiny appley things of Mr S Jobs.
p.s. I thought you were joking about the potatoes and the fish, but if Bram Stoker is to believed you were not, or is this a standing joke amongst all Irish folk?
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@Matt: No. I won't. I think you're being mean bringing them up on here.
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