Community conduct rules and sanctions
We know you don’t deliberately set out to annoy your neighbours, however complaints about noise and antisocial behaviour in the local community have increased.
Noise and antisocial behaviour can be penalised, and sometimes legal action can be taken against you. If you are thinking of holding or attending a party in your or your friends’ homes, there’s some risks you’ll want to avoid.
Dedicated service for noise and antisocial behaviour
The University of Leeds works in partnership with the city’s other higher education institutions, the Leeds City Council Antisocial Behaviour Team and West Yorkshire Police to prevent as well as address noise and antisocial behaviour issues in our local community.
The University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University fund a dedicated anti-social behaviour and noise service for the Inner North West Leeds area, which is run by Leeds City Council. The service provides a dedicated resource for the area including intelligence let proactive patrols, response officers covering 5pm to 4am seven nights a week, and increased contact centre call handling capacity at peak times.
University regulations and complaints about noise and antisocial behaviour
The University has a clear process for complaints about noise, antisocial behaviour.
For less severe noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour in the community, students are required to attend a citizenship training workshop, where you will learn about University expectations on behaviour, the consequences of unneighbourly conduct and how to mitigate negative community impact.
For more severe, such as noise from large, disruptive house parties, or frequent antisocial noise and behaviour, the University will follow our General University Disciplinary Regulations.
For a breach of the agreement or severe conduct in the community, students can be:
- fined up to £500
- disqualified or have conditions imposed around a University service or facility
- ordered to make an apology to an aggrieved individual and/or compensation, and/or payment for damage to property
- suspended from the University
- in extreme cases, expelled from the University.
Legal action for noise and antisocial behaviour
Leeds City Council are taking noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour very seriously. They are regularly pursuing legal and enforcement action against students that cause an issue and are patrolling your area to monitor behaviour.
Any students who are involved could receive a fine, have their property seized, be evicted or end up in court and receive a criminal record. If you receive any letters or notices from the Council do not ignore them, take them seriously. There are no second chances or warnings.
Premises Closure Order
This is a court order which can effectively close a property either to visitors, or to everyone including the tenants. The order lasts for between three and six months, and breach of a Closure Order is a criminal offence.
If your property is closed fully, you will be removed and have to seek alternative accommodation. In these circumstances, rent would still be due to the landlord of the closed property.
Noise Abatement Notice
This is a formal notice requiring you to immediately stop nuisance noise coming from your property, garden, or open space. Breach of this notice, even once, is a criminal offence prosecutable in the magistrates Court.
This can lead to equipment being seized, a formal caution, or on conviction a fine of up to £5,000. Where items are to be seized, this can include speakers, sound bars, musical instruments, amplifiers, DJ decks etc whether they belong to you or not. If you are prosecuted for breach, the seized items will not be returned to you.
Abatement Notices can also be used to prevent threatened behaviour that is likely to occur, and breach of notice is still a criminal matter.
Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)
Headingley, Hyde Park and Woodhouse (including the local park) are subject to a PSPO, which makes the following activities (amongst others) a criminal offence in a public place:
- Organising, planning or taking part in a street party causing noise nuisance.
- Using psychoactive substances in a public place.
- Being in possession of an open container of alcohol – this must be surrendered on request, failure to do so is an offence.
- Being in a group of 2 or more in a public place causing anti-social behaviour.
- Leaving bins and bags of waste on streets and public spaces. It is your responsibility to ensure your waste is contained in the correct bin and bins are put out on the day of collection and returned to within your property boundary afterwards. Check your bin day or download the Leeds Bins App.
Breach of PSPO can lead to a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a fine on conviction of up to £1000. Further details can be found on the Leeds City Council website.