Arson
This is illegal. Please report it to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. You can also contact your local council if you're in need of emergency rehousing.
Stolen or lost post
This is illegal. Please report it to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. You can also contact your local council if you're in need of emergency rehousing.
Theft or burglary
This is illegal. Please report it to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. You can also contact your local council if you're in need of emergency rehousing.
Loud noise or music
We all have different levels of tolerance when it comes to noise in our homes.
Try having a friendly word with your neighbour first. They might not realise they’re disturbing you.
If you’re still being bothered, you can contact your Environmental Health Team through your local council. If the noise continues, report it to us. We'll ask you to log incidents or use our Noise App for 2 weeks before deciding whether it's excessive.
If you’re worried about the safety of a child please contact:
If it’s just general noise, we wouldn’t usually consider this to be anti–social. You can still report to us as we may be able to help improve the situation.
DIY
We do not consider reasonable amounts of DIY to be ASB.
Try having a friendly word with your neighbour first. They might not realise they’re disturbing you.
If you’re still being bothered, you can contact your Environmental Health Team through your local council. If the noise continues, report it to us. We'll ask you to log incidents or use our Noise App for 2 weeks before deciding whether it's excessive.
Dogs barking
If you’re concerned about someone’s pet, please contact the RSPCA.
Try having a friendly word with your neighbour first. They might not realise they’re disturbing you.
If you’re still being bothered, contact an environmental health officer at your local council.
If the noise continues, or you don’t feel comfortable speaking to your neighbour, report it to us.
If you’re worried about the safety of a child please contact:
If it’s just general noise, we wouldn’t usually consider this to be anti–social. You can still report to us as we may be able to help improve the situation.
Living noises
This includes noises like vacuuming, walking around, doors opening, loud conversations etc.
If you’re bothered by it, have a friendly word with your neighbour first. They might not know they’re disturbing you.
If the noise continues, please report it your local environmental health officer.
If you’re worried about the safety of a child please contact:
If it’s just general noise, we wouldn’t usually consider this to be anti–social. You can still report to us as we may be able to help improve the situation.
Neighbours arguing or shouting
If you overhear your neighbours shouting or arguing and believe they may be experiencing domestic abuse, you can find out more about domestic violence here. You can report it to us and:
If you’re worried about the safety of a child please contact:
If it’s just general noise, we wouldn’t usually consider this to be anti–social. You can still report to us as we may be able to help improve the situation.
Dangerous dogs
A dog can be dangerous and it’s an owner’s responsibility to keep their dog under control. You’re not allowed to keep any dog mentioned in the Dangerous Dog Act.
If you’re scared that a dog is going to attack you, make sure you’re safe and contact the police. You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. We’ll be in touch within one working day to decide whether this meets our criteria to investigate further and agree actions with you. You may be asked to provide any supporting evidence.
Threats of violence
If you've received a threat of violence, this should be reported to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them.
If you’ve reported an offence to us, we’ll be in touch within one working day to decide whether this meets our criteria to investigate further and agree actions with you. You may be asked to provide any supporting evidence.
Physical assault
Physical violence is illegal. Please report it to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. If you’ve reported an offence to us, we’ll be in touch within one working day to decide whether this meets our criteria to investigate further and agree actions with you. You may be asked to provide any supporting evidence.
Gun or knife crime
This is illegal and very dangerous. Please don’t put yourself at risk to deal with this. You should make sure you’re safe and then report it to the police immediately. You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. We'll work in conjunction with the police to ensure the safety of your community.
Substance misuse including cannabis
Substance misuse is illegal.
Please report it to the police immediately. You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers. Some Environmental Health Teams deal with this, you can check through your local council.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them.
You can keep a log of incidents if you see it happening frequently. This may be useful as evidence if the police press charges.
Exploiting someone's address for criminal purposes (cuckooing)
This is the act of taking over the home of a vulnerable person in order to establish a base for drug dealing. Please report it to the police immediately. You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them.
You can keep a log of incidents if you see it happening frequently. This might be useful as evidence if the police press charges. We'll work in conjunction with the police to ensure the safety of your community.
Drug dealing
Drug dealing is illegal and a police matter. Please report it to the police immediately. You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them.
You can keep a log of incidents if you see it happening frequently. This might be useful as evidence if the police press charges. We'll work in conjunction with the police to ensure the safety of your community.
Hate crime
We take any harassment very seriously and won’t allow discrimination of any kind.
Hate crime is illegal. Please report it to the police immediately.
Once you’ve reported it to them, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them.
If you’ve reported a racist or hate crime to us, we’ll be in touch within one working day to decide whether this meets our criteria to investigate further and agree actions with you. You may be asked to provide any supporting evidence.
Verbal abuse, harassment or intimidation
If you're being harassed, intimidated or verbally abused by your neighbour, please report this incident to us. We’ll be in touch within one working day to decide whether this meets our criteria to investigate further and agree actions with you, considering conflict resolution. You may be asked to provide any supporting evidence. If you’re concerned for your safety, please call the police immediately as they may consider the incident as a crime depending on what's happened.
If you’ve reported it to them, let us know the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. Keep a log of incidents if this has happened more than once. This may also be useful as evidence if the police press charges.
Drunk or rowdy behaviour
Please don’t put yourself at risk to deal with this. Call the police if they’re needed.
Once you’ve reported it to the police, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. If these incidents are linked to one of our properties, we'll consider appropriate next steps to resolve the issue.
Flytipping or graffiti
Flytipping:
You’re responsible for getting rid of large waste items. The council will take these away, but will usually charge for this. You can find out how to arrange this here.
If you spot fly-tipping in your neighbourhood, you should report it to your local council.
If we remove bulk waste, the cost of removal may be added to the service charge for that estate.
You can read more about Optivo's approach to fly-tipping here.
Graffiti
We want your neighbourhood to be clean and pleasant to live in. We look after our neighbourhoods by carrying out regular inspections to ensure they meet our quality standards.
Where we've identified graffiti, we'll work with our contractors to arrange removal within 5 working days.
If the graffiti is offensive, we'll remove it within 1 working day. If you spot any graffiti, please report this to us on 0800 121 6060 or report it here.
People congregation
Please don’t put yourself at risk to deal with this. Call the police if they’re needed.
Once you’ve reported it to the police, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. If these incidents are linked to one of our properties, we'll consider appropriate next steps to resolve the issue.
Rough sleepers
Please don’t put yourself at risk to deal with this. Call the police if they’re needed.
Once you’ve reported it to the police, let us know, including the incident report number and police officer’s name if you know them. If these incidents are linked to one of our properties, we'll consider appropriate next steps to resolve the issue.
Find out more about our approach to dealing with anti social behaviour below.
How to report ASB to Optivo?
You can report incidents of ASB by contacting us. The quickest and easiest way to report anti social behaviour is online using MyAccount.
Report ASB
There are a number of other ways to get in touch.
When you report an incident of ASB these will be passed to one of Housing Officers or ASB Officers, depending on what is being reported. They’re trained to help and find a way forward.
They’ll ask you about the problems you’re having and assess the risk to you by completing a short risk questionnaire. They’ll then create an action plan with you and tell you who’ll be dealing with your case.
They may ask you to keep a record of the ASB issues you’re having. You can do this by completing our ASB incident diary sheets or we may ask you to use the noise app.
What happens when you report ASB?
When you report ASB to us we'll agree actions with you.
It’s very important you follow these actions as they help us take the case further. If you don’t we’ll be unable to progress the matter and may have to close the case.
In some cases, we may suggest mediation. Mediation is a good way of resolving disputes without the need to go to court. It involves an independent third party - a mediator - who helps both sides come to an agreement.
If mediation is appropriate to help resolve your anti-social behaviour case, we’ll expect you to take part before we progress with further action.
Read more about the process in our
ASB policy.
The graph below shows the number of cases we’ve received for the top 5 categories (1 April 2021 – 28 March 2022)
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What to do in an emergency?
If the incident is serious or life-threatening, please call 999 immediately and speak to the emergency services.
If the incident involves a crime not requiring an emergency response, please call 101. For example if:
- Your car has been stolen
- Your property has been damaged
- You suspect drug use or dealing in your neighbourhood
Alternatively:
- Give the police information about crime in your area
- Speak to the police about a general enquiry
What to do if you’re not happy with our response to your ASB reports?
We attempt to resolve all ASB complaints quickly and will work with partner agencies where appropriate.
If you’ve reported ASB to us and feel the action we’ve taken isn’t helping to tackle the problem, then there are a number of things you can do:
Through Optivo: make a complaint
You can progress a complaint through Optivo’s complaints procedure. If you make a formal complaint an Optivo manager will investigate and respond to it. You can also escalate your complaint if you’re still dissatisfied after we respond.
Through your local authority (LA): a ‘Community trigger’
The ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014 brought in measures to give victims and communities more say in the way their ASB reports are dealt with. This includes the
Community Trigger (also known as the ASB case review). It gives victims the right to request a multi-agency case review where a local authority’s threshold is met.
If you meet your local authority’s threshold for a community trigger (usually 3 separate ASB reports in a 6 month period), they’ll arrange a meeting with you and the key agencies dealing with the ASB to review the case. At this meeting an independent panel will listen to your concerns. They’ll also hear what the different agencies involved have done to tackle the ASB. The panel then make recommendations on further action to improve things for you. Community triggers are taken very seriously and all agencies involved are fully expected to act on any recommendations they receive.
What’s the difference between them?
You can make a formal complaint to Optivo if there’s been one service failure. A community trigger usually requires you to report 3 separate incidents first.
Optivo’s formal complaints are investigated and dealt with by Optivo staff. A community trigger is co-ordinated by your local authority and involves an independent panel reviewing the case.
An Optivo complaint will only consider Optivo’s actions whereas a community trigger will consider the actions of all key agencies dealing with the ASB
Which one should I use?
Optivo’s complaints process and the community trigger are independent of each other. Each has its own conditions to be used.
You’re not required to make a formal complaint before applying for a community trigger. However if you’re not satisfied with our response we’d appreciate the opportunity to resolve this through our complaints process first.