Residents in Birmingham are voicing their frustration over ongoing antisocial behaviour from neighbours, with some claiming they feel trapped and unsupported by local authorities. Paul and Sarah, two local residents and tenants, spoke with the BBC. After years of suffering through interference, they believe they’ve reached an impenetrable wall in their search for assistance.
Instead, Paul has been living under the stress of his neighbor’s retaliatory actions for two years. He even testified that the seemingly non-stop noise has heavily impacted his health. “I’m not sleeping or eating properly – I have a heart condition, and it’s making life a misery,” he said. In spite of his lamentations, he believes that those in power have offered him scant—to no—help in fixing the problem.
Just as with Sarah, who has described continuing harassment from her adjacent neighbours, getting help has proven deeply frustrating. She expressed her dismay at the lack of action taken by Birmingham City Council, saying, “The authorities, I think, should have acted a lot quicker than they have done over the past two years because they’ve practically done nothing.” As we reported earlier, the situation has reached a boiling point. The continued banging has caused much of the wall between her property and her neighbor’s to crumble.
Since 2022, Birmingham City Council has faced 16,575 complaints related to antisocial behaviour inside these properties. However, just 27 renters have been evicted for this type of behaviour. Until now, the council had refused to use antisocial behaviour as grounds for eviction. Uncertainty about the plan Residents such as Sarah are angry. She says the council has a responsibility to make sure its tenants don’t have to fear for their safety in their home.
Sarah’s worries extend past her personal safety. She has witnessed her son self-harming due to the anxiety caused by the repeated disruptions. She remarked on the thinness of the walls separating their homes, stating, “If the shoe was on the other foot and it was happening to them, it wouldn’t be allowed, so why is it allowed for me to sit here and deal with it? It’s just not fair.”
Birmingham City Council has acknowledged the issue, with a spokesperson stating, “It is an issue we take seriously and want to improve upon.” The council now hires 102 housing officers whose full time job is to respond to reports of antisocial behaviour. These dedicated officers are charged with regularly visiting displaced tenants and perpetrators in order to seek amicable settlement. The spokesperson said the council was determined to address the cause of persistent antisocial behavior. They will try a whole spectrum of interventions, including mediation, and evict only as a last resort when all other options have been explored.
Good action has been taken. Despite these attempts towards acknowledging marginalized identities, many are worried that the council’s response is insufficient. MP Preet Kaur Gill highlighted the need for a rethink on how tenants are expected to collate evidence of antisocial behaviour. “We have to look at how on earth we have got to a situation where we have around 5,000 cases of antisocial behaviour every single year,” she stated. She further questioned whether the current number of housing officers is sufficient to meet the rising demand for assistance: “We only have about 100 housing officers, so how will they cope with that level of demand?”
Both Paul and Sarah are convinced that their stories can lead to systemic change. They want the council to pass a more equitable, effective approach to addressing antisocial behavior. Paul noted that while he does not wish to see his neighbour penalized harshly, he believes intervention is necessary. “I don’t want [my neighbour] to get into trouble, really, I think they need help, but if they carry on, they need to be moved.”
