What responsibilities do social landlords have for the actions of their tenants?
Section 12 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 requires all social landlords (local housing authorities, registered social landlords and housing action trusts) to prepare and publish statements and summaries of their policies and procedures in relation to anti-social behaviour so that everyone can see what commitments the landlord is making. Section 13 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 builds on housing injunctions that are available in the Housing Act 1996. An injunction prohibits the person concerned from engaging in specified types of behaviour. Some injunctions can exclude the person from specified places or areas. Breach of the conditions of an injunction can result in up to two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine for contempt of court. Injunctions are increasingly used to control anti-social behaviour in situ rather than displacing the problem, for example by evicting nuisance tenants who are then able to continue the behaviour in another property. Under this act,
