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Graffiti

Graffiti is a criminal act and offenders can be prosecuted. It’s expensive and time-consuming to remove and sometimes is impossible to remove completely.

We will try to remove graffiti quickly when we are told about it, but it can take up to 20 days to do this. If it includes offensive words or images, then we aim to remove it within 24 hours.

Sometimes graffiti happens in connection with other anti-social behaviour, which we will then deal with as part of a wider investigation.

What you can do

If the graffiti is in an area we own and manage then let us know as soon as possible
If the area is managed by a managing agent, report any graffiti that you see to them
For any graffiti that you see in public spaces that are not owned by Lifestone, report it to the local authority
Take a photograph and/or video of the graffiti and upload it to the ASB App and create an incident report
If you are unable to access the ASB App, you can send photographs and videos to us and request ASB Incident Log Sheets by emailing ContactUs@lifestone.co.uk or calling 0300 303 1010. Please include as much information as possible such as the time, date and location of the graffiti and whether or not it includes offensive words or images
Please also report any graffiti to the police, particularly if it includes offensive words or images as this can be classed as hate crime (see separate section on hate crime in this toolkit)
Please tell us if you know who the perpetrator is even if you do not know if it is a Lifestone customer
Continue to keep us updated and provide further incident reports if the graffiti continues.

What we can do

We will investigate graffiti where there is evidence that helps us identify who has been involved
If you are able to provide specific dates and times when graffiti occurred, we can check any CCTV to see if we have any evidence.
Where graffiti occurs in areas that we own and manage, we will arrange to have it removed within 20 days, or within 24 hours if it contains offensive words or images
If we have evidence of who is writing the graffiti and they are a Lifestone customer, we can take tenancy enforcement action against the perpetrator(s)
If we have evidence of who is writing the graffiti and they are a NOT a Lifestone customer, we may still be able to take legal action against the perpetrator(s) depending on the circumstances
We can share information with the police and support criminal prosecutions for graffiti
We may be able to install CCTV
We may be able to apply anti-graffiti paint or other wall coverings to make it easier to remove graffiti or to make sure that the graffiti paint is not able to dry. We can assess whether any other preventative measures might help to deter future graffiti, such as installing security gates, doors or motion sensor-operated lighting

What other agencies can do

The local authority can remove graffiti in areas they are responsible for, such as playgrounds, pavements, public buildings etc.
The police can prosecute perpetrators for criminal damage and other related offences.
The police can also use their intelligence information to help identify graffiti “tags” with known individuals so that we can take tenancy or other enforcement action.

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