Respect Orders: A new tool for Social Housing Providers to tackle anti-social behaviour

What are Respect Orders?

Respect Orders are a new civil remedy for tackling anti-social behaviour by adults. They will be inserted as a new ‘Part A1’ into the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Applications may be brought by a specified list of relevant authorities, which includes housing providers, and can be issued in the County Court or the High Court.

The legal test will be familiar to housing management practitioners: the court must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the respondent has engaged in, or threatens to engage in, anti-social behaviour, defined as conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person. The court must also be satisfied that it is just and convenient to make the order to prevent further anti-social behaviour.

For housing providers specifically, the anti-social behaviour must directly or indirectly relate to, or affect, the provider’s housing management functions.

How could Respect Orders help housing providers?

Respect Orders can include both restrictions, such as preventing the respondent from entering a certain area or behaving in a particular way, and positive requirements, such as requiring the respondent to attend and engage with drug and alcohol treatment programmes or anger management courses.

Housing providers will also be able to ask the court to exclude a respondent from their own home where there has been violence, threats of violence or a significant risk of harm to others. In urgent cases, applications may be made without notice. Interim Respect Orders can only include restrictions; they cannot include positive requirements.

Where a positive requirement is sought, the order must identify a supervisor who is responsible for overseeing compliance. The supervisor may be an individual or an organisation, but evidence will need to be provided regarding suitability and practicality before the court includes such a requirement. The supervisor’s role includes promoting compliance, making necessary arrangements and notifying the applicant and police whether the requirements have been completed or breached. Before seeking prosecution for a breach of an activity requirement, the supervisor must provide a written warning.

Why will risk assessments matter?

Housing providers should be aware that Respect Orders bring additional procedural obligations. Before any application is made, including a without notice application, a formal risk assessment must be undertaken. This assessment must consider:

• The risk of any person being caused harassment, alarm or distress by the respondent’s conduct;
• Any vulnerabilities of the respondent;
• Any alternative means of preventing the anti-social behaviour; and
• Any other relevant circumstances.

This requirement reflects the Government’s intention to ensure that Respect Orders are used proportionately and with proper consideration of safeguarding and vulnerability issues.

Why does criminal enforcement matter?

Perhaps the most important feature of the new regime is that breach of a Respect Order will be a criminal offence. This is a significant change from the current injunction regime, where enforcement generally requires committal proceedings.

Under the new framework, suspected breaches can be investigated by the police and prosecuted through the criminal justice system. A respondent who breaches a Respect Order may face imprisonment, a fine or both.

For social housing providers, this is likely to be one of the most attractive changes. Enforcement has often been the weakest aspect of housing injunctions. Respect Orders promise a much more robust response to persistent non-compliance and should provide greater reassurance to victims who have become frustrated by repeated breaches of court orders.

What should providers do now?

Although Respect Orders do not come into force until 26 October 2026, registered providers should start preparing now. That means:

• Reviewing ASB policies and procedures;
• Preparing template risk assessments;
• Training housing officers on when Respect Orders may be appropriate; and
• Making sure case management systems can capture supervision arrangements for positive requirements.

Respect Orders represent the most significant development in civil anti-social behaviour enforcement for many years. By combining flexible preventative powers, rehabilitative interventions and criminal sanctions for breach, they could become a powerful tool for protecting communities and tackling the most persistent perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. The key for registered providers will be making sure their teams are ready to use the new powers effectively when they arrive in October.

If you’d like to understand how Respect Orders could fit into your ASB strategy, or what changes you may need to make before October, please contact Jordon Kellett or a member of our Housing Management and Litigation team.