My Neighbourhood FAQs
See below how you can keep your neighbourhood free from things like graffiti, vandalism or anti-social behaviour.
What can I do?
Be a good neighbour. This means thinking about how your behaviour affects others. It means being considerate and tolerant and respecting others. It means appreciating that living with neighbours is about give and take. It means:
- keeping your home and garden clean and tidy, this includes maintaining any trees in your garden
- being reasonable and tolerant of other people’s views and lifestyles
- treating your neighbours with consideration
- making sure your children and guests respect your neighbours and their property
- sticking to your tenancy agreement
What can Soha do?
We have a team of neighbourhood officers who oversee the day-to-day management of your estate – carrying out regular estate/neighbourhood inspections and providing help and advice about your tenancy or any problems you’ve got.
Our team spends time on their ‘patches’ – meeting, visiting and speaking to you and other residents. They’ll deal with tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour, abandoned vehicles, fly tipping, grounds maintenance – basically anything that affects you or your neighbourhood.
What can neighbourhood officers help with?
- Keeping your estates free of dumped and abandoned vehicles
- Regularly checking communal areas to make sure they’re in good condition
- Making sure communal gardens are kept clean and tidy
- Keeping an eye on our contractors to make sure they’re doing their job on your estate
- Arranging for graffiti and rubbish to be removed quickly
- Dealing with complaints about anti-social behaviour
- Carrying out tenancy visits
- Carrying out changes to your tenancy
- Dealing with trespassers and squatters
- Checking for abandoned properties
- Giving you advice about local services and how Soha can help
How can I contact my neighbourhood officer?
Our interactive map is available for residents to easily find out who their contact is. Please click here to find out more.
Call us on 0800 014 15 45 (freephone) or 01235 515 900 (standard call rates apply)
Email housing@soha.co.uk
Speak to one of the team when you see them out and about in your area
Neighbour problems
Please try and speak to your neighbour to try and sort out any issues before you contact us.
Often people don’t realise they’re disturbing others – so tell them (calmly and politely) how their behaviour is affecting you. They may not realise just how their actions are causing problems.
- Think about what you want to say before approaching them
- Be clear about what the problem is and how it’s affecting you
- Keep the conversation calm and friendly
- Listen to the other person’s point of view
If your neighbour becomes unreasonable and you’ve not been able to work out a compromise, walk away and report the issue to us.
As well as contacting us you should also:
- contact the police if you think a crime has been committed. Dial 999 if it’s an emergency or 101 if it’s not an emergency
- if your complaint is about noise nuisance, contact your local environmental services team at your district council
If you’re experiencing noise nuisance, you can always try The Noise App. Available for both iPhone and Android, you just download the app, record the noise and send it to us using Soha’s reference number, which is 314. We’ll then review the recording and get back to you with our assessment.
My estate and grounds maintenance
We’re responsible for maintaining the grounds and communal areas around your estates and neighbourhoods. The cost of this is re-charged to you through your service charge.
Most of our grounds maintenance and cleaning is carried out by our contractors but we carry out regular inspections to make sure they’re doing their job properly.
As well as the day-to-day cleaning and maintenance, we employ estate operatives who can respond quickly to any small jobs that need to be done.
There’s also an opportunity for you to earn shopping vouchers for being our ears and eyes where you live as a Soha Green and Clean Champion. Contact us if you’d like to know more!
Keeping your neighbourhood clean and tidy
- Keep your pets under control and don’t allow them to foul in communal areas
- Clear up after your pets
- Put out your rubbish and recycling on the right collection days
- Use bulky waste collection services to get rid of large items (contact your local council for more information)
- Report any faults or repairs to communal areas – for example, communal doors, lighting and door-entry systems