Housing association landlord refusing to deal with dangerous neighbour

[Queenofheaven]

Hi everyone, I'm in England and our landlord is a housing association. We live in a converted flat (3 flats and we are in the middle).

Our upstairs neighbour moved in straight from prison. He had been convicted for a violent robbery against a family and served 13 years. We've been complaining to the landlord since he moved in. He threatens delivery people, people in the street, people on the phone, blasts insanely loud music daily (it vibrates the whole house). He threatened to beat up my partner when we complained. We have to leave the flat whenever he plays music or is threatening to kill people on the phone. It has ruined our lives.

It has been 7 years and nothing was ever done. Recently he threatened to kill a teenager that was in his flat. He also kept screaming "don't you know I kill people?" Right outside our door. Random people on the street called the police (that's how loud he is)- and nothing was done, apart from his daughter was taken from him.

He has had people show up outside our flat with machetes looking to fight him.
I reported the latest incident on the day it happened and was told I'd hear back within 48 hours. I also made two formal complaints which were never responded to. It's been a month and I've just managed to get through to them. All they've said is they need "his side of the story" and to conduct interviews with him. I've told them I believe this is putting us in danger as he'll know we've reported. They also said his previous criminal history "doesn't matter".

When I spoke to our local police team they were much more understanding and said they wouldn’t contact him directly so they don’t put us at risk, but that ultimately it’s a landlord issue.

Steps I've already taken:
Reporting to the landlord multiple times, including formal and internal complaints- for years now.

Contacting the police and reporting incidents (I'm still in contact with a safer neighbourhoods team who are contacting ASB officers)

Sending noise recordings to the council via the noise app.

Complained to the Housing Ombudsman who is reviewing evidence.

I genuinely feel the landlord is putting us in danger as our doors are very flimsy and the communal areas aren't safe. I believe he has gang affiliation too. What else can I do? Please do not just tell me to move, I want to know what legal action I can take. I haven’t yet contacted my local councillor so I will try that tomorrow.

*editing to add: the music he plays is so loud it vibrates the entire building, the threats he makes to people are always very violent, he has been in breech of his tenancy for years and nothing has been done. The complaints I've made to the landlord have been about the ASB but also how the landlord is handling this and they have not been responded to.I also haven't included every incedent in this post as there's too many to list.

Notwithstanding your saying “Please do not just tell me to move” - MOVE!

Can you do a swap to another property which isn’t part of a converted house? Purpose-built flats have their own problems but are generally better in terms of noise transfer.

We’ve been trying to swap since he moved in, nobody wants it because he’s so loud.

I think you're going to have to move yourself rather than wait for any swap . The guy sounds unhinged and no way would I still gr there .

My immediate question might be why wasnt he recalled to prison as he would have been on parole or whatever its called

Do contact your local councillor and MP detailing all the steps you've taken and the responses.

He might have a probation officer, keep calling the police.

Could have been released at the end of his sentence. After 7 years it's highly unlikely he's still subject to any Probation oversight.

OP - be the squeaky wheel. Every single day / every occurrence, fire off an email copying in all parties (police, HA, council, councillors etc) with a contemporaneous report of the issues. The more you make it clear just how often it's happening and what's being done, the more likely they are to act.

You should also ask for an ASB Review (Community Trigger) with the police - this is a statutory requirement for all forces including your local one.

Here's the Devon & Cornwall Police explanation of the ASB Review process: safercornwall.co.uk/asb-case-review/#:~:text=How%20To%20Apply%20for%20an%20ASB%20Case%20Review&text=Call%20Devon%20and%20Cornwall%20Police,can%20text%20phone%2018001%20101.

If he does have a PO, they will have been informed of every single report already.

If he's violent and served over a year, he's subject to VISOR - this will be subject to a fresh review if the reports keep being made.

I would complain to your MP once you have one again. MP complaints often carry weight in the public sector so I would push via that route I think.

I second contacting your MP (once you know who that is!). A similar thing happened to a friend. The MP contacted the HA. HA provided a ring doorbell (he was coming to their door and harassing them, name calling). HA took out an injunction and are trying to evict but in the mean time he has been arrested and is in custody again.

Complain to council. They can monitor noise, anti social behaviour. You can use crimestoppers to report them too. The local police seem to be aware of them. Apply to move.

You need to raise a 'community trigger' and ask for a case review.

At the very least I'd have expected landlord to consider an injunction if not a closure order and/or possession claim.

There might be capacity and mental health issues at play but even still it sounds bad enough to warrant action.

I’ve not heard of VISOR will have to look into it! He’s definitely violent and he’s served other sentences as well, it was just his most recent one that was 13 years

I genuinely don’t know. The police have been here multiple times often not even called by us, but we have called them before and every time he’s let off and nothing happens. He used to abuse his mum and we called about that but ofc she didn’t want to press charges

Why won’t you move? Your peace of mind is worth more surely?

I definitely will! I think this is the only way. I’ve emailed the landlord and copied in the community police team earlier today and will contact a councillor tomorrow. The community team guy said he was contacting the ASB officers but it’s been a while and they still don’t seem to be getting back to him

We’re in massive rent arrears and my partner is currently unemployed, it will take us years to save. We were effectively made bankrupt due to my health issues and he was having to care for me for years. I’ve only just got better and our finances are in absolute shambles. Obviously we would’ve moved years ago if it was possible

I’m very confused by the landlords response too. They kept stating that their criminal past didn’t matter and downplaying my concerns about our safety. Apparently the previous threat he made to my partner means nothing either. He just kept saying he needed “his side of the story”, even though multiple police reports were made by many different people about this particular incident.

They also won’t tell me what the next steps are apart from interviewing the neighbour.

Have you installed a video camera yet? If you can't have one in a communal area, consider putting it just inside your front door and set it to record sound. You can then review it when you need to.

Does this housing association begin with an S by any chance

When I spoke to our local police team they were much more understanding and said they wouldn’t contact him directly so they don’t put us at risk, but that ultimately it’s a landlord issue

Ah Good ol" two tier policing!!

And what happens if she moves and this HA or another one does the same thing again Should she keep moving like a chess piece.

Because this is happening all over the country thanks to the welfarisation and residulisation of social housing cheered on by many on here THIS is precisely what happens when people whine that SH should only be for the most desperate These are the consequences.

I saw a similar post elsewhere on this board where a tenant had a very similar issue with a neighbour and she was told by her HA that each estate has to "take their share" So highly likely this could happen to @Queenofheaven again even if she does move

Yes this is our worry too, that if we swap we’ll still end up with awful neighbours. In the long run we want to completely get out of social housing but have a long way to go, and it doesn’t feel right to be forced out because of this neighbour and the landlords lack of action.

It doesn’t actually! But all the housing associations seem pretty rubbish

Because there is no accountability