can social housing landlord impose restrictions without a court order?

meritaten

Sorry, but I cant give too much detail as it may identify the persons involved.
the basic facts are
a person moved into the estate and on the day he moved in he made a complaint to the HA that a child had peered in his window.
that was investigated - the child willingly said they had been nosy and wanted to know if any kids had moved in. matter resolved.
since then he has been aggressive towards the local kids (and to their parents).
He has made it known he doesn't want to be there and is a bloody nuisance. residents have even complained to the police about him.
at the same time and nearby there is a guy who supplies and smokes cannabis - its smell is invading nearby homes so the residents have complained to both police and the HA. who do nothing.
but both these residents now have made complaints to the HA about two of the people they seem to know have made complaints about them - and the HA arrived out of the blue with 'breach of tenancy' notices.
they also imposed restrictions on the tenants. such as they couldn't enter certain areas or have guests in their homes. both tenants have assured tenancies and are at a loss as to how to deal with this.
they also wanted the residents to sign 'contracts' which were supposed to be 'voluntary', but threatened them with legal action if they didn't. one signed, one didn't. the one who signed is now writing to them to say they want to retract their signature as it was done under duress.
the HA say they are acting because of 'evidence logs' kept by the complainants. but wont give copies of these logs for my friends to examine and refute. in fact, they were given no opportunity to deny or refute the allegations.
Should they just comply with these restrictions which they feel are unfair or should they be seeking legal advice?

DandelionPatrol

Your post is not very clear. On whom have the restrictions been applied? The newly moved in guy and the pot smoker or the alleged complainers against these 2? An edit of your post would be welcome, perhaps giving made up names to the characters?

Guest101

The HA has done nothing wrong.

They've received complaints and acted appropriately.

theyve offered voluntary agreements. 1 person agreed, 1 didn't.

Legal action can mean anything. It's not a threat. It's certainly not duress.

It's 'legal' by its very meaning. They are saying they will take action under the law.

Imposing that residents don't go in a certain area, nor have guests, is being dealt with outside of court. Don't agree? Let a court decide. The court could find for the residents you know.

BlueEyedGirl

Sounds like a HA I once rented from. Tried to get me to sign an 'undertaking' after something I did (brought on by years of abuse from other residents and no support from HA or police) I refused, appeared in court on 3 occasions each time the judge delayed things because of evidence I had submitted to prove I was in fact the victim of ASB.

HA gave up and withdrew their action! I eventually moved but took legal action against them for allowing continual breech of tenancies from several residents which in turn affected me. HA settled out of court 8 months after I instructed legal action.

My advice, take proper legal advice / CAB help and do not be bullied into signing anything!

meritaten

I feel the HA are being used by these new tenants to harass my friends. they have done nothing wrong.

Guest101

meritaten wrote: »

the restrictions have been applied to the residents (of many years) of the estate.

The restriction have been accepted by one of these people. Sorry to be pedantic, but people shouldn't sign things they aren't sure of.

Gingernutty

The restrictions have been applied to the residents who have complained about criminality and antisocial behaviour and not the tenants who provoked the complaints.

Yes. They should be seeking legal advice.

Guest101

Gingernutty wrote: »

The restrictions have been applied to the residents who have complained about criminality and antisocial behaviour and not the tenants who provoked the complaints.

Yes. They should be seeking legal advice.

To be fair the person moved in and immediately has trespassers, hardly provoking

meritaten

Guest101 wrote: »

To be fair the person moved in and immediately has trespassers, hardly provoking

a CHILD looked in a window to see who moved in? a trespasser? and the guy immediately made a complaint? jeez.
and yes, the guy has 'severe mental health issues'. which the HA feel trumps the other tenants rights.
he shouts at the kids and reduced one child to tears for simply being in front of his home. on the FOOTPATH. he lies and says the kids throw stones at his windows and the police have investigated and say there is no evidence of this. the other neighbours say the kids haven't done anything wrong but the HA don't want to hear this.
the tenants who have had restrictions imposed are the ones who have called police about his behaviour and the police have spoken to him about it. apparently the HA have no record of the tenants complaints or the police log numbers they were given.

Guest101

meritaten wrote: »

a CHILD looked in a window to see who moved in? a trespasser? and the guy immediately made a complaint? jeez.
and yes, the guy has 'severe mental health issues'. which the HA feel trumps the other tenants rights.
he shouts at the kids and reduced one child to tears for simply being in front of his home. on the FOOTPATH. he lies and says the kids throw stones at his windows and the police have investigated and say there is no evidence of this. the other neighbours say the kids haven't done anything wrong but the HA don't want to hear this.
the tenants who have had restrictions imposed are the ones who have called police about his behaviour and the police have spoken to him about it. apparently the HA have no record of the tenants complaints or the police log numbers they were given.

yes, a trespasser. That's exactly how you describe someone on your property without permission. The new tenant files a complaint, correctly.

So mental health issues don't exist in your world? What rights does that trump exactly?

No one has had restrictions 'imposed', no one was forced to agree.

The tenants should go get those log numbers and provide them to the HA in that case

[Deleted User]

My son has ASD, this means that sometimes he gets stressed by things that others won't. It can be very hard to find out what happened because what he says happens and what really happened can be quite different. Its an expresssion of his condition and his stress.

So people have to understand that he requires understanding and a wide berth at times. Even from us, his family. That's called sensitivity and understanding.

If one of the new people has mental health problems, and he finds it threatening to have people in HIS front garden.., why aren't people just giving it a wide berth. Why aren't children being warned to stay away? Then there wouldn't have been a problem to be reported to the council? Its called respect for the fact that there are different people with different tolerances in the world.

The people concerned have been asked to voluntarily make agreements to alter their behaviour. They could have refused, as a gun wasn't being held to their heads. If they feel happier having it go through the court system.., then that's their choice. But the outcome will be uncertain for however long the process takes.