Mandatory possession is not the way to tackle anti-social behaviour
Following last summer’s riots, a number of English councils and social housing providers announced their intention to pursue the eviction on the grounds of anti-social behaviour of any tenant convicted of being involved in the riots, along with their families, regardless of whether or not the offence took place in their own community.
UK government ministers were quick to support this, resulting in Home Office proposals to extend the scope of the discretionary grounds for possession to include anti-social behaviour that takes place outside the immediate locality in which the accused lives.
The riots were an extraordinary series of events and to propose new legislation that could make whole families homeless on this basis seems reactionary and short-sighted, so it is to the Welsh Government’s credit that it is not seeking to alter the discretionary grounds for possession in this way.
However, it is still proposing to introduce a new mandatory power with the aim of ‘…speed[ing] up the anti-social behaviour possession process in a way that properly and fairly considers both the rights of victims and witnesses and the rights of those at risk of losing their homes.’
We fully recognise the distressing and disruptive impact that anti-social behaviour has on communities. There is no doubt that the actions of a very small number of people can often have a highly disproportionate effect on the wider neighbourhood and this is to be condemned.
Nevertheless, we believe this proposal is unnecessary and could seriously compromise the fairness of existing procedures, especially for the most vulnerable households who are least able or likely to exercise their legal rights. It also appears to contradict the Welsh Government’s existing policy aims regarding child poverty, social inclusion, anti-social behaviour and homelessness prevention.
In our experience, a lot of anti-social behaviour (ASB) stems from unmet needs. Perpetrators of ASB are almost invariably vulnerable, socially excluded and marginalised in their communities and many are also victims of ASB themselves.
Enforcement without appropriate support and opportunities for rehabilitation can only be a short-term measure that will simply result in ‘problem families’ being moved from one area to another without any meaningful resolution. In addition, households that have been evicted for ASB will have great difficulty finding alternative accommodation as they are likely to be found intentionally homeless.
Depriving a household of their home is an extremely serious action that should be judged by courts on a case-by-case basis. Introducing a mandatory power of possession would, in our view, remove that judicial discretion to examine the nature of the alleged ASB, the circumstances of the individuals involved and the absence or failure of other interventions.
We believe that early intervention is the way forward and we know that this approach can be highly effective from our Valleys Inclusion Project (VIP), which was set up in 2005 to provide intensive specialist support to households at risk of losing their homes due to allegations of ASB. The service provides a range of interventions, including housing advice and advocacy, welfare benefits advice, money management and support with parenting.
What project workers have found in almost every case they’ve worked with is that service users are genuinely unhappy to be known as ‘neighbours from hell’. They are not proud of what has happened and there is an acknowledgement over time that they do need to address certain aspects of their behaviour.
One project worker says that once service users realise that Shelter Cymru is completely independent and they start to see some practical results from working with the project, then they begin to open up and address more deep-seated issues.
The kind of approach taken by the VIP is undoubtedly resource-intensive. But compared to the far-reaching consequences of prolonged ASB – which imposes substantial costs on a range of
services including the police, criminal justice, education, housing, healthcare, drug and alcohol support and social care – we believe that it is, not only more cost effective than eviction, but also the only
sustainable option for breaking the cycle of offending behaviour in the long term.
Shelter Cymru’s annual conference 28 June 2012, Marriott Hotel Swansea.
Exhibitor opportunities and booking details available online at www.sheltercymru.org.uk.