Neighbour problems - CCTV advice needed

spg1

Hi

I live in a block of flats where we are suffering continued disturbance by occupants and visitors of one flat coming in/going out very late at night and being very noisy. There have also been deliberate incidents of disturbance (door bell ringing etc) of flats where they know occupants have complained about them in the past. May all sound quite minor compared to the anti-social behaviour I know some people have to endure but being woken up several nights a week is no fun.

We are trying to take action against them via council/landlord but gathering concrete evidence that it is them is tricky (they make a lot of noise coming in but by the time residents have got up they are back in their flat). We are looking into installing some form of basic CCTV/webcam system in the shared stairway mainly to act as a deterrent but also to gather evidence. It would have be remote (ie not directly connected to a computer) as it is a large communal stair area and ideally be able to record sound as well as images.

Any advice or idea of the cost of a suitable system?

thanks in advance for any help

G_M

You can get DIY systems from around £100+. Or you can pay considerably more.

Remember you'll almost certainly need permission from your freeholder, management company, landlord whoever to install in common area.

reformedEffortmaker

If you live in London, you may be able to get your Safer Neighbourhood Team to install one temporarily (i.e. long enough to gather the necessary evidence).
I only say this because if they are as anti social as you imply, then it wont be long before the cctv lens is damaged

tbs624

You can't simply slap up a CCTV system without checking the legalities. You may find it useful to have a look at this and this from the Neighbours From Hell site

spg1

Thanks for your helpful replies - will look further into the legal aspects.

patman99

As long as the camera does not have the ability to pan/tilt/zoom, then you can happily install as many as you wish.
However, if the camera does pan/tilt/zoom, then you will need to register with the Data Commissioner.

Of course there is always the option of putting-up fake cameras inside anti-vandal cages. The effect of these may be exactly what you need.

Ulfar

If it is a block of flats, get onto the management company or residents association as there is usually a quite enjoyment clause in leases which these residents are breaching.

If they are renting you will be amazed at how quickly a landlord will deal with the problem when he could loose his leasehold. Also ringing the landlord to complain when they are being loud will see some action as he doesn't want to be woken up by you complaining.

mostlycheerful

The concerns expressed here about possibly needing permission(s) are only likely to be an issue should someone want to make it an issue. Mostly any authorities will be on your side and you’d have to be unlucky to get a jobsworth wanting to restrict your ability to defend yourselves and your properties and your quality of life by use of a bit of technology, whatever the legal guff is supposed to be. In the real world a lot of legal mumbo jumbo hot air is ignored by the authorities just as much as it is by citizens and criminals.

Re the possible problem of damage by the miscreants as mentioned by reformedEffortmaker, perhaps consider also or instead using one or two small cameras embedded in smoke detectors which are available from various outlets and can be quite cheap. They’ll probably still get noticed and trashed or nicked anyway sooner or later but they might last a bit longer than ones that are obvious.

Patman99 : “Of course there is always the option of putting-up fake cameras inside anti-vandal cages. The effect of these may be exactly what you need.”

Yes indeed, and if using real or fake cameras clearly on show rather than secret ones then perhaps consider adding a sign or two with standard notices in the usual formal terminology just plainly saying “This area under CCTV” or such like.

You might also consider putting up some signs such as what you often see next door to clubs and pubs in residential areas along the lines of “Please show some consideration to our residents and be as quiet as possible when leaving and entering the premises, thank you.” Of course if they’re just nasty antisocial wrong’uns then this might be counter productive and simply set them off to deliberately make even more noise or even get lairy and go on the warpath. But, hopefully, if some of them are at least a bit civilised or sensible they may make a bit of effort to behave themselves. And if they see a sign or two like this then some of them may realise that their antics are still being noticed and action is starting to be taken so possibly, if you’re lucky, some of them might tone it down a bit for this reason.

Of course if they’ve already been banging on doors in retaliation then perhaps you need to bear this in mind. It would be a shame if your camera(s) and or sign(s) provoked the thugs to attack someone vulnerable. That would be awful.

What a nuisance. Good luck.

ovy_2

Have you actually spoken to the people who live in the property??

They may not know what their friends are doing eg ringing doorbells etc.

chris_m

ovy wrote: »

Have you actually spoken to the people who live in the property?? They may not know what their friends are doing eg ringing doorbells etc.

It sounds like they probably do. From the OP;

There have also been deliberate incidents of disturbance (door bell ringing etc) of flats where they know occupants have complained about them in the past.

spg1

Thanks very much for some very helpful suggestions here. I suspect a first step might be to put in some dummy/very cheap cameras along with signs and see what impact they have.

The problems are being caused by students living in a mixed residential area. Sadly things have worsened this weekend - one resident who they know has complained had her door banged on in the middle of the night (despite the fact she lives with two young children) and a cigarette stubbed out on her spyhole in the door. As mentioned before no doubt minor compared to a lot of problems people have with anti-social behaviour but very unpleasant for her.

We have put pressure on landlords and they are sympathetic and do try and read the students the riot act but the reality is there is very little pressure we can put on the students themselves - at the end of the day the worst that can happen is they are evicted and have to find somewhere else to live (unless we have concrete evidence of them doing something serious)