The Safer Streets summer town centre initiative is welcome news for social landlords, which often face spikes in ASB during hot weather, writes Rebecca Webster from Forbes Solicitors
Forecasts of warm weather often prove bitter-sweet for social housing landlords.
It’s great to see communities getting outside, enjoying the sun. Warm, dry weather also proves favourable for completing exterior maintenance works and managing outdoor spaces. However, there’s also trepidation about the problems that hot weather can cause.
Sadly, as the mercury rises, so do issues of ASB.
We work with registered providers of social housing nationwide, and a quick review of the requests we receive for ASB-related legal support shows a peak during hot weather.
Spring 2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest on record – as reported by the BBC – and June became the warmest month on record for England. During May and June this year, we saw a 28% increase in ASB incidents, compared to the same period in 2024, when weather conditions were noticeably cooler.
Hot weather and hot problems
Various different studies suggest there’s a link between hot weather and violence. There’s even a ‘temperature-aggression’ hypothesis, which theorises that uncomfortable temperatures cause increases in aggressive motivation.
Other reports suggest heat alters serotonin levels – a brain chemical that regulates anxiety, happiness and overall mood.
The science and theory may be open to debate, but what is less questionable are the practical causes of ASB issues during hot weather. People get outside to spend time in the sun. BBQs, parties and other social get-togethers will be organised, which can involve long periods of drinking alcohol, consumption of illegal drugs, loud music and noise.
It’s a combination that can lead to impaired judgement and flared tempers, causing problems such as fighting, abusive behaviour, hate related incidents, disputes with neighbours, street drinking and drunken behaviour, and harassment and intimidation.
Other issues of ASB during hot weather can include stealing, vandalism, littering and fly-tipping. Community spaces can be littered with rubbish and debris after summer get-togethers, while people clearing-out gardens to get them ready for a party can cause fly-tipping.
Shoplifting of alcohol and meat for BBQs can also prove a problem.
Tackling ASB
Following the recent periods of hot weather, as well as predictions of another heatwave in August, it’s perhaps not surprising that the Housing Ombudsman is calling on housing associations to tackle ASB.
A new report, Learning from: Severe Maladministration (July 2025), claims social landlords are too passive in their approach to dealing with ASB and hate crime. This jars with our experiences of working with registered providers of social housing. We find they are quick to act to understand the causes of ASB and invested in finding effective solutions.
During the record temperatures in May and June 2025, when we saw a spike in ASB incidents, we saw a corresponding peak in social landlords seeking possession orders and injunctions, along with a rise in the issuing of formal warnings to perpetrators of ASB.
Additionally, there was also a rise in general requests for legal advice for immediately resolving ASB problems and finding ways to solve issues in the long term. This often involves collaboration with partners such as the local authorities and police, and this is why the government’s Safer Streets summer town centre initiative is a welcome opportunity for social landlords keen to tackle ASB.
The Safer Streets summer town centre initiative
Launched nationally from late June to September 2025, the Initiative targets over 500 town centres across England and Wales to prevent crime and ASB in town centres.
This involves increased, visible policing and enforcement, partnership-led interventions with councils, retailers, youth services and community organisations, and support for legal enforcement frameworks to tackle problem behaviours.
Social landlords are important local partners in tackling ASB, particularly where tenancy breaches overlap with town centre hotspots. The Safer Streets initiative can support legal powers in several ways, including Community Triggers, data sharing and early intervention, visible action and enhanced police presence.
The initiative promotes partnership responses under remedies like the Community Trigger, which compels agencies to act on persistent ASB when requested by residents or communities. It’s an active step toward strengthening the collaboration between social landlords and counterparts throughout communities who can share data and knowledge to more effectively address problems.
By pooling intelligence between the police, housing providers and local authorities, the initiative strengthens the case for civil injunctions, possession actions, or closure orders targeting persistent offenders or problem premises. It enhances data sharing to promote earlier interventions to avoid problems festering.
Earlier interventions can support more visible action, building confidence among communities. A high-profile crackdown reassures social tenants and can help rebuild trust where previous inaction has undermined confidence in social landlords and local authorities.
An enhanced police presence, with increased patrols deter ASB, and provide quicker responses – reinforcing those interventions that reassure communities – to support tenancy enforcement actions when incidents occur in or in near social housing properties.
Our conversations with social housing landlords indicate how welcome the Safer Streets town centre initiative is during the summer months. It places ASB under the spotlight, prioritising it across multiple organisations and agencies.
However, despite these many positives, there are possible hindrances, challenges and risks that must be carefully managed.
Potential hindrances and challenges
Routine patrols in town centres may cause displacement of problems, pushing offenders back into residential areas, which necessitates ongoing intelligence sharing and joint estate patrols.
Increased expectations of enforcement can place additional demand on already stretched ASB teams, who must collaborate more closely with police and local authorities to respond swiftly.
The initiative’s campaign style approach focuses on high visibility over the summer, risking short lived change. Integrating such schemes into year-round sustainable ASB strategies that address underlying issues, such as youth engagement and lack of community amenities, are crucial to long-term solutions.
ASB may spike during warm weather, but it’s far from being just a seasonal issue.
With careful management of challenges, the Safer Streets summer town centre initiative offers a significant opportunity for social landlords to enhance their capacity to tackle ASB during the peak season.
By deepening collaboration, improving evidence sharing, and making full use of the legal tools, social housing landlords can ensure safer communities for all residents.
It’s essential that these efforts continue beyond the summer blitz to achieve year-round improvements and to prevent displacement, ensuring every resident feels secure at home and in the wider community.
Main image: Rebecca Webster is an associate in the housing and regeneration team at Forbes Solicitors
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