Housing Providers will be able to apply for Respect Orders, if the following legal tests are met:   

• the defendant has engaged/threatened to engage in Anti-social behaviour; and 
• it must be just and convenient to grant an order to prevent ASB. 

Breaching a Respect Order will be a criminal offence and will be punishable in the Magistrates Court, with the most serious breaches being heard in the Crown Court. The mandatory ground for possession will be amended in the 1985 and 1988 Housing Acts to include a breach of a Respect Order. 

Housing Injunctions will remain available for Housing Providers alone, with the ability to ask the court to attach a power of arrest and to make terms to exclude a person from their home, as is currently available. 

When applying for a Respect Order or Housing Injunction, the Court has the discretion to impose either order, depending on the evidence presented before it, meaning upon application for a Respect Order, a Housing Injunction could be granted instead and vice-versa.  

Prior to making an application to the Court for either order, the Applicant must carry out a Risk Assessment - details of which are likely to be published in subsequent Regulations. At this time, it is unclear if a proforma risk assessment will be provided or whether it will be for the applicant to create a template which meets the requirements, but the Bill sets out the points which ought to be considered as part of the Risk Assessment.  

The Offence of cuckooing will have been committed if all three of the following elements are met: 

• a) (the offender) exercises control over the dwelling of another person; 
• and do so for the purposes of enabling that dwelling to be used in connection with the commission (by any person) of one or more relevant offences; 
• b) (the tenant) does not consent to an exercising control for that purpose. 

It is our view that the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998 defences and counterclaims are likely to be raised in applications made in respect of all new powers, where appropriate, and so it will be as important as ever to ensure that your decision making is robust and evidenced in an Equality Impact Assessment. 

How Capsticks can help  

Our experts can advise on the forthcoming changes, assist in reviewing your policies and assist with making applications under the new legislation when it is in force. We will be monitoring progress of the Bill, and further insights will be published as it progresses through parliament.  

A recording of the webinar hosted on 16 September 2025, which discussed the above in more detail, can be found here, please get in touch if you would like the accompanying slides.  

A further webinar will be held on 8 October 2025 at 12pm where we will consider the evidential and practical considerations involved in applying for a closure order. If you would like to join, please sign up here.  

If you have any questions about what is discussed in this insight, please contact Sarah Christy and Tim Pearl.