The first tenants started moving in at the beginning of September.
I started off by introducing myself to the people who moved in, and the people who were supporting them. And it was quiet for the first couple of days. The tenants were younger than I expected, given that they had undertaken not to house anyone in a similar age range to the young homeless hostel, only a block away. I found out what the concierge service covering overnights and weekends was. It was a private security company, one man in a car who would drive past a couple of times a night and slightly more often at weekends.
Then I found out that one of the tenants was out on licence for multiple arson. The arson he was jailed for was widely reported because it included one of the biggest local fires in recent history. The newspaper reported a history of fascination with flames from a young age, setting himself on fire for fun, and setting things on fire just so he could watch and film it on his phone. Apparently he had been sofa surfing since being released on licence, as none of the hostels would take him with that history. So they put him in a terraced house with absolutely minimal supervision instead.
The company had previously promised not to put anyone in the property with a history of arson (I hadn't even thought about that possibility before then). This stressed me out (slight understatement) as not only did it make me feel that my family was unsafe, but it also demonstrated that any promised made by the company running the property were worthless, and that they had no regard for the wellbeing or safety of my family or any of the other neighbours.
Even without this offending history, the lad, only in his early 20s had mental health problems and had never lived independently before, so should not have been left without support or supervision.
Within a few days of the hostel being tenanted, I was woken in the early hours by loud shouting and scuffling coming from next door and the front street. I pulled some clothes on and went outside to tell them to be quiet. There were a few people already in the street, and then 2 police officers came out of the house ejecting 2 men who weren't tenants there. (Theoretically there were not meant to be any overnight guests, but obviously someone had let them in). About 20 minutes after the police had gone, the 2 men came back, shouting and threatening to brick the windows. I called the police back again. I finally managed to get back to sleep but at 6am I was woken by what I thought was someone hammering on our front door. It was actually next door's front door but so noisy that it sounded like our house. The police were back again for the third time that morning.
I didn't have an out of hours phone number for the people managing the house, but I left a message on the phone number I had been given for office hours to let them know what had happened. I didn't get a response.
From midday that day, there was a constant stream of people in their late teens and early 20s in and out of the property, openly drinking strong cider and spirits. Although we had been told no alcohol or drugs would be allowed at the property, there was no-one to enforce the rule, and since it was a Saturday we didn't have anyone we could contact.
This went on throughout the weekend, and by Monday even more worryingly younger teenagers living locally (aged 12-14 but already known to the police as at risk of being involved in crime)also turned up and started hanging around. We then got in touch with our local policing team. No-one from the property management turned up until the Tuesday. There had been 5 police incidents at the property within 5 days of it opening.
Since then, they have put security guards actually in the property over the weekends, and there are staff there more often during the day during the week which did help put our minds at rest a bit, especially when eventually the arsonist was moved out - for not keeping to the terms of his licence, but hopefully to somewhere where he would be able to get more support.
The presence of security guards haven't stopped one of the tenants dealing from the property and nearby streets. His customers turn up at all hours and shout up at the windows (possibly to avoid being picked up by the cctv). Others aren't so bothered by the cctv and will hammer on the front door, and if that fails, go into the back garden and hammer on the back door. This is still going on, and wakes us up most nights, as do frequent slamming doors throughout the night within the property.
We are in touch with the police, environmental health, our MP and councillors. We are also in touch with the company managing the property, but the head office rarely responds to our emails, and never answers any questions we ask.
A junior member of staff has now been assigned the task of responding to our concerns. Her reply to my dh's last email was to apologise for making us feel uncomfortable or upset. Uncomfortable and upset is a bit of an understatement. Unsafe, sleep deprived and unable to relax in our home would be more accurate.
This is not boding well. I am now wondering whether we can continue living here, despite having so many ties in the community. I also can't imagine anyone else wanting to live here with that going on next door.