Two properties in Newark have been closed by court order after what Newark and Sherwood District Council and Nottinghamshire Police described as months of persistent criminal and anti-social behaviour affecting their neighbours.
The orders were granted at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday 9 October. They prohibit anyone from entering either property for an initial three months, a period the council says will give residents respite while further enforcement action is considered.
The first property, on Barrows Gate, is privately owned and had been let to tenants. According to the council, after those tenants left, a number of people began entering the house without permission, and it became what the council called an “open house” for drug use, crime and anti-social behaviour. Several arrests have been made there, the council said, though it has not given the number or the offences involved. The house has now been secured, with the landlord working alongside the council and police.
The second is a council-owned home on Yorke Drive. The council says its tenant, James Bunch, allowed people to use the property who then caused nuisance and significant concern to neighbours in recent months. It also says Mr Bunch has links to the Barrows Gate address. Under the order, he is no longer permitted to enter his own home. The council has not said where he is now living or whether it intends to seek possession of the tenancy.
Closure orders are civil measures, available to councils and police under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Magistrates can grant one where they are satisfied that a property has been used, or is likely to be used, for nuisance or disorder, or that people have engaged in serious disorder there, and that closing it is necessary to prevent further problems. An order can initially last up to three months and can be extended by the court, up to a maximum of six months in total. Entering a closed property without authorisation is a criminal offence.
For council tenants the consequences can extend well beyond the closure itself. The same legislation made a closure order lasting more than 48 hours one of the conditions on which a landlord can seek possession of a secure tenancy under the absolute ground for anti-social behaviour, which limits the court’s discretion to refuse. The council’s statement refers only to enforcement action being “considered” and does not specify what form that might take for either property.
Councillor Lee Brazier, the cabinet member for housing, said the behaviour associated with the Yorke Drive home was unacceptable. “Everyone who lives in one of our homes deserves to feel safe and secure,” he said.
Councillor Paul Taylor, who holds the council’s public protection portfolio, said closure orders were intended to protect local people and give communities immediate relief, and thanked council staff and police for what he called swift action.
Inspector Charlotte Ellam, district commander for Newark and Sherwood, said the two properties had been causing constant problems for residents for some time. She said police had listened to community concerns and would support opportunities to act with partners such as the council.
The statements give little detail of what neighbours experienced, beyond references to drug use, nuisance and criminal activity, and neither the council nor police has said how many complaints were received or over what period. Nor has either body said whether the people who used the Barrows Gate house without permission face prosecution, or whether any charges have followed the arrests made there.
The case has a link to the council’s wider housing record. In July the Regulator of Social Housing, inspecting the council as a landlord for the first time under its current regime, found it was meeting expectations on tackling anti-social behaviour, including through partnership working and use of legal powers.
The council is urging residents with concerns about anti-social behaviour to contact its ASB team, which takes reports in confidence by phone or through an online form. Non-urgent incidents can be reported to police on 101, and emergencies on 999.
Both orders are due to expire in early January unless the council or police return to court to extend them.
