Tenants' bad behaviour should not be rewarded says councillor

Bill Cook, Labour victor in the Liberton/Gilmerton by-election, called for a tougher approach to antisocial behaviour and said other penalties could include eviction or being moved to a smaller house.

He said: "We have to establish some principles. We should not reward bad behaviour.

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"For example, if the council is putting new windows in a street and there is an antisocial tenant, I don't think they should benefit from that.

"Why should we all pay for refurbishment of a house when someone in that house is abusing their position as a tenant?"

He said he would be ready to evict people for antisocial behaviour or look at their tenancies.

He said: "We should say to them, 'We provided a home for you, we expect a certain level of responsibility as a tenant and if you cannot fulfil your responsibility, well go and make your own arrangements'.

"If they are living in a three-bedroom house, you could give them something less. I think we have a duty to make some of these difficult decisions."

Councillor Cook said anti-social behaviour had been a big issue in the by-election campaign.

He said: "Not everyone is affected by it but when you are, it becomes the dominant issue.

"Far too many of our citizens are having to endure antisocial behaviour, whether it's sheer aggression, violence, house-breaking or just not being able to go out at night.

"One lady I met goes to bingo every week, but she feels she has to get a taxi back just because she doesn't want to walk down Gracemount Drive. She shouldn't have to do that.

"Now I'm elected I'm going to pursue this issue with as much vigour as I can command. People have responsibilities as well as rights. We should not tolerate antisocial behaviour, but as a society we are tolerating it."

He said people had a right to live in a safe and secure environment.

"I feel strongly that kids need a break in life, a good education and to be put on the right track in terms of behaviour, but when we are confronted with antisocial behaviour we have to come down on it hard.

"There are too many examples of good tenants being moved out when there is a problem with antisocial behaviour. The only people I would move would be the antisocial tenants."

Housing convener Paul Edie said the council dismissed the idea of excluding tenants from refurbishment programmes.

He said: "It doesn't make sense to miss out people from window replacement or other programmes. There are efficient ways of doing these things and this would not fit."

Latest figures show that across the city, complaints of antisocial behaviour have fallen by 27 per cent over the past five years, from 5437 to 3968.