What can be done?
What you can do
As a first step, speaking to your neighbour may resolve the issue.
Explain to your neighbour in a calm and reasonable way the problem that you have and try to settle the dispute between yourselves.
It is important to remember that people have different lifestyles and often your neighbour may not realise that they are causing annoyance. Be prepared to compromise.
However, if you approach your neighbour and they behave unreasonably you should walk away.
What Southampton City Council can do?
If the issues have not been resolved by speaking to your neighbour you may feel you want to take the complaint further by contacting us.
The Council will aim to resolve your complaint informally by referring your case to our independent assessment service run for us by NFS Mediation.
This is a highly successful service and 8 out of 10 cases are settled using this process.
An assessor will try to see both you and your neighbour separately and report back to your Housing Office within 15 working days of your complaint being made. The assessor will talk to you about the problems raised and how this is affecting you. They will (with your permission) talk to your neighbour.
Further action
In most cases, if further action is needed, your Housing Management Officer will complete an Action Plan with you.
The plan will outline
- What actions we will take to resolve the issue - for example we may need to interview the person causing the problem, speak to other agencies such as the police.
- Any actions we need you to take to resolve the issue such as completing an ASB diary to record the nuisance or report noise complaints to Environmental Health.
- How you will be updated on your case.
In all but the most serious cases we will aim to resolve the complaint using non legal measures such as
- Warning letters
- Visits
- Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
- Mediation
In the most serious cases we will consider taking legal action including injunctions and possession action.
