Anti-social behaviour

The legal definition of ASB is "Acting in a manner that has caused or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as themselves".

Examples of ASB include:

• persistent noise nuisance: e.g., loud music, persistent shouting, excessive volumes from a TV or radio.
• intimidation and harassment (Harassment is violence which may be verbal or physical, bullying, or cyber bullying and which includes attacks on property as well as on the person). Any of form of harassment should be reported to Surrey Police.
• hate crime or behaviour that targets members of identified groups because of their perceived differences: e.g., Race, religion or belief, disability, transgender identity or sexual orientation. Hate crime should be reported to Surrey Police.
• aggressive and threatening language or behaviour.
• actual violence against people and wilful damage to property.
• local environmental quality issues (e.g. litter, dog fouling, graffiti and fly tipping).

This list is not exhaustive. Any type of behaviour that causes harassment, alarm, distress, nuisance or annoyance can be assessed and potentially considered as anti-social. Every case will be judged on its own merits, and if the behaviour amounts to ASB, we will investigate it or signpost to other agencies such as the police.

What is not considered to be ASB?

Examples of behaviour that are not ASB :

• reports relating to ball games.
• disputes over boundary issues or other household disagreements.
• actions which amount to people being unpleasant (e.g. staring at or ignoring people).
• parking disputes.
• other neighbourhood issues that are not generally considered to be ASB such as children playing or people hanging around in groups.
• reports due to different lifestyles or everyday living situations which are not intended to cause nuisance or annoyance are not generally considered as ASB: e.g. children playing, babies crying, cooking smells, pet noise, household noise due to everyday living - TV, music, radio, noise from electrical items such as washing machines or vacuum cleaners and DIY (during reasonable hours as defined by local authorities), and one-off parties, BBQs, and celebrations.
• noise created by transference due to poor sound insulation.
• social media posts or text messages.

Persistent or harmful behaviour

We understand that some behaviours, even if they don't appear serious on their own, can become distressing if they happen repeatedly over time. If behaviour is persistent, deliberate, and is causing serious harm or distress, we will consider it in line with our ASB policy and take appropriate action.