§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation applies to nuisance neighbours in sheltered housing schemes; and if he will make a statement. [45621]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 26 March 2002]There are a number of legislative measures that apply to nuisance neighbours. These include
The Housing Act 1996, which makes provision for eviction and injunctions.The Environmental Protection Act 1990, under which local authorities can deal with nuisance problems such as noise, smoke, fumes or gases emitted from premises.The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which introduced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) which can be used to prohibit individuals from acting in a manner liable to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people in another household.The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which makes it a criminal offence to cause another to fear that violence will be used against him or her.The Government's consultation exercise on "Tackling Anti-Social Tenants" ended on 12 July. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will now be considering the responses and taking this work forward.