Antisocial behaviour in blocks of flats

Most antisocial behaviour in blocks of flats is noise, and the quickest fix is usually a calm conversation, then mediation, then the council or the police. A landlord or managing agent can act only where the lease allows it, and enforcing a lease is slow and costly.

What counts as antisocial behaviour

It is behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to other people, usually more than once. In flats it most often means loud music, DIY at unsociable hours, barking dogs, rubbish dumped in shared areas, vandalism, intimidation and verbal abuse.

Steps you can take yourself

Unless you are dealing with threats, violence or harassment, it is usually best to start with these.

1. 01
   Talk to your neighbour

   They may have no idea that they are disturbing you. A polite conversation solves more problems than any letter.

2. 02
   Keep a diary

   Note dates, times, what happened and how it affected you. Every later step depends on evidence.

3. 03
   Try mediation

   Mediation suits disputes about noise, pets, parking and boundaries. Your council or Citizens Advice can point you to a local service, and some are free.

4. 04
   Contact the council

   Environmental health officers can investigate noise and other nuisances, serve notices and, in serious cases, seize equipment.

5. 05
   Contact the police

   Violence, threats, harassment, hate crime, criminal damage and drug dealing are matters for the police. Call 999 in an emergency. Otherwise call 101 or report online.

What the landlord or managing agent can do

Most leases forbid causing a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours, and some go further with rules on noise at night or floor coverings. Where there is good evidence of a breach, the agent can write to the leaseholder on the landlord’s behalf and point to the clause.

If that does not work, the options are limited.

• Legal action under the lease, such as an injunction or forfeiture, is expensive and slow. Before forfeiture can even begin, a tribunal or court must decide that there has been a breach, unless the leaseholder admits it.
• Not every lease obliges the landlord to act. Where it does, the leaseholder who complains can usually be asked to cover the landlord’s costs.
• The agent has to take instructions from the client before doing anything. The client is the freeholder or the directors of the management company.
• If the problem is a tenant, the leaseholder who owns the flat is responsible under the lease, so we take it up with them.

For these reasons, the honest advice is often that the council or the police will get a quicker result than the lease can.

Council and police powers

ASBOs were abolished by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The powers that replaced them are available mainly to councils and the police, and in some cases to social landlords:

• Injunctions that forbid specified behaviour. From 26 October 2026 these become housing injunctions for adults and youth injunctions for under-18s.
• Community protection notices, which require a person or business to stop causing a nuisance.
• Closure orders, which can shut premises linked to serious nuisance or disorder for up to three months, and up to six if extended.
• Criminal behaviour orders, made when someone is convicted of an offence.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 also adds Respect Orders for adults, available across England and Wales from 26 October 2026. A court can ban the behaviour and require the person to deal with its causes, and breaking the order is a criminal offence.

If you have reported the same problem several times and nothing has been done, you can ask for an ASB case review. The usual threshold is three reports within six months. Your council’s website explains how to apply.

Particular problems

• Dogs. Persistent barking is a noise nuisance for the council. A dog that is dangerously out of control is a matter for the police.
• High hedges. Councils can deal with complaints about evergreen hedges over two metres high that spoil a neighbour’s enjoyment of their home.
• Drugs. Report suspected dealing to the police, and let your managing agent know afterwards.
• Damage and graffiti. Report damage in shared areas to your managing agent. Most leases make a leaseholder pay for damage they or their household cause, but clear evidence of who did it is needed.
• Abandoned vehicles. See our guide to parking problems.

Telling us

If you live at a development we manage, let your property manager know what is happening and share your diary. We can check the lease, write to the leaseholder concerned where there is evidence of a breach, and advise the directors or freeholder on their options. Damage to shared areas can be reported through butlins.fixflo.com.

Further reading

• Citizens Advice
• A guide to civil mediation (GOV.UK)

This article is general guidance based on the law in England in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Your lease or transfer deed always comes first, so check it, and take professional advice on anything in dispute. The TPI advice note attached to this article was last revised in May 2021 and still refers to ASBOs. We have brought the section on council and police powers up to date. You will find more answers in our FAQs.