Legal definitions of ASB
Over the last 15-20 years several definitions have been cited and refined in legislation. The key pieces of legislation of relevance today are:
- The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 and Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 defines Anti-social Behaviour as “Behaviour by a person which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the person”.
- Most recently the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 described ASB as: - Conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person; - Conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that persons occupation of residential premises, or - Conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person (referring to directly or indirectly housing management functions of a housing provider or local authority).
This latest definition now enables responsible authorities’ greater opportunity for applying appropriate ASB tools and powers to address certain behaviours, issues, or occurrences of ASB and is the definition adopted by the Housing Department.