It started off with a complaint about serious antisocial behaviour (ASB) by a neighbour, and ended up with the resident taking the extraordinary step of sending court bailiffs to one of the largest housing associations in England (L&Q), to recover the compensation awarded to him by a county court.
SHAC member and L&Q resident Dean Kennedy suffered six years of antisocial behaviour by a close neighbour. As is all too often the case, his landlord L&Q did little to resolve the issue, and at one point, even tried to accuse Mr Kennedy of being the perpetrator.
As Mr Kennedy found to his cost, L&Q has a poor track record on dealing with ASB. Only 52% of people who reported antisocial behaviour to L&Q believed that the landlord had dealt with it effectively, according to L&Q’s published Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
A petition was organised across the community urging L&Q to act on the antisocial behaviour. The ‘Community Trigger’ was instigated, which brought the police, council, and landlord together to discuss it. The police even confirmed in writing that Mr Kennedy’s life was in immediate danger, such was the extent of the threats made against him by his neighbour. All to no avail.
Dean says:
“My mental health seriously deteriorated. I had a breakdown when the neighbour was banging on my door. I barricaded myself in and had to call 999. I was a wreck.
“It was terrifying. It has taken months of therapy and medication to get back on an even keel. I still can’t believe how dismissive L&Q was. They agreed that there was a problem, but didn’t take any steps at all to address it.”
Mr Kennedy submitted an internal complaint to his landlord, then escalated it to the Housing Ombudsman. Through many twists and turns, and without the cooperation of L&Q, Mr Kennedy won a finding of maladministration of ASB handling by L&Q and was awarded £800 in compensation. Mr Kennedy then applied for further damages via the Money Claim Online Portal.
L&Q failed to attend court and lost by default at the court hearing in November 2024. Despite countless phone calls and emails, there was still no sign of the payment, and nothing seemed to prompt L&Q into paying up. Mr Kennedy realised that there was only one option left: instructing court bailiffs to recover the compensation.
At first, the bailiffs failed to gain entry, so Mr Kennedy escalated his case to the High Court Bailiff Service. This added an extra £1,800 fee to the amount L&Q had to pay.
On the 4th August 2025, court bailiffs successfully attended L&Q’s head office at 29-35 West Ham Lane, Stratford London E15 4PH, serving them with a writ of control. Only then was the money transferred to Mr Kennedy.
Dean Kennedy: The Resident Who Sent Bailiffs into L&Q’s Head Office
SHAC Action
SHAC is aware that we have a real and acute problem with housing associations believing that they are unaccountable and untouchable when it comes to tenants and residents trying to enforce their rights, whether this is in relation to antisocial behaviour, disrepairs, or overpaid service charges.
The enforcement gap undermines all the regulatory and statutory measures that are supposed to balance the rights of tenants and residents against those of landlords.
SHAC is campaigning for government to tightly close the enforcement gap, but at the moment they show no inclination to do so. SHAC will continue campaigning, but in the meantime, supports tenants and residents to use all the tools available, even going to the extreme step of sending in the bailiffs.
SHAC has also highlighted the harm caused by antisocial behaviour, and specifically the failure of housing associations to initiate appropriate interventions.
15 August 2025
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