A day in the life of… a Housing ASB and Enforcement Officer

YHN’s dedicated Housing Anti-Social Behaviour and Enforcement Team (HASBET) aims to reduce anti-social behaviour by supporting victims and taking action against those who cause problems for their neighbours.  To support this we work with various partners including Newcastle City Council, Northumbria Police and Victim Support.

Libby Dodd has worked in HASBET since 2008.

“I’m working on approximately 25 cases at the moment and cover the Walker and St Anthony’s area of the city. I’m based at YHN House but I’m out and about all the time.  Here’s my diary from a Thursday in January…”


8am Arrive at the office and check my emails and calendar appointments for the day ahead. I deal with incident reports that have come in during the night from the Night Noise team at Newcastle City Council and start preparing documents for court, sending out letters and going through my mail.

10am Home visit. I visit a tenant who has reported noise nuisance. He lives in a block of flats and can hear his upstairs neighbour playing excessively loud music and having arguments late at night with their partner. I take full details of the dates and times the anti-social behaviour takes place, and I also carry out a vulnerability assessment to assess whether the victim needs any additional support. We agree and sign an Action Plan, which is a commitment to investigating and resolving the anti-social behaviour. We agree the victim will keep a diary of the anti-social behaviour and agree a return date. I ask if anyone else has experienced the anti-social behaviour who I can speak to and gain supporting evidence.
I notice that the victim is quite distressed. He is currently studying and the noise is affecting his sleep pattern so I refer him to Victim Support.

11am Joint working with police. I have to serve court hearing notification papers in relation to an injunction application on a tenant in Walker. The injunction order has been applied for in an attempt to stop the tenant harassing their neighbours. These papers have to be physically handed to the tenant and a police officer accompanies me as the tenant could become angry and physically aggressive when confronted with this course of action.

12 noon Quick break for lunch.

12.30pm Back to the office. I take time out to call some victims and update them on the progress of their cases. It’s important that we keep the victims up to date with the progression of their cases in an effort to limit the distress caused to them, and so they know we are taking their complaints seriously.
Following the calls I update case files and liaise with Katharine, our Victim Support Officer, over any addtional support that is needed.

1pm Housing office meeting.  Every six weeks I meet with the Housing Services Manager for a case update meeting. It’s important the housing office is kept up to date on all the cases we are managing and we discuss any new referrals and ongoing cases.

2pm Attend court.  I often have to attend court and give a statement when it comes to cases of anti-social behaviour. This afternoon I have to give evidence at a hearing where a perpetrator has allegedly breached an undertaking.

This case involved a tenant harassing and deliberately causing nuisance to his neighbour. The perpetrator had been taken to court previously and he had agreed an undertaking to the court – where he made a formal promise to the court not to engage in anti-social behaviour. Despite the undertaking the perpetrator continued their harassment. A further court date was set for the judge to decide whether the perpetrator had breached his undertaking, in what is called a ‘committal hearing’.

In court today the perpetrator denied he had continued to harass his neighbour, however we presented our evidence which included two witnesses who were neighbours of the perpetrator to counter this. The judge agreed with HASBET and punished the perpetrated by giving him a two month suspended prison sentence, meaning if he continued his harassment he could be sent to prison in future for two months. This was a good result for the victim. It’s rewarding when you are able to improve a difficult and often distressing situation for somebody.

4pm Return to office and catch up on emails and return any calls I have missed. I look at my diary for tomorrow and prepare for the next day.

4.30pm Time to go home. I really enjoy my job – each day is very different and I work with so many different people and agencies. I would encourage anyone who is experiencing anti-social behaviour to tell someone. You can report it to the police, to your housing office or HASBET, and it can be done anonymously.

Don’t suffer in silence – help us to help you

Ways to get in touch with HASBET:

• Call 0191 274 4000
• Email: newcastleasbunit@yhn.org.uk
• Write to us: HASBET, YHN House, Benton Park Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7LX
  We can arrange an interview if you’d prefer to chat in person