Merseyside Police back housing association plans to remove tenancies for knife related offences

Merseyside Police has backed a new plan by a Liverpool housing association to take tenancies away from anyone convicted of a knife crime related offence. 

South Liverpool Homes (SLH), which is responsible for managing over 3,700 homes around the Speke and Garston areas, has recently amended its tenancy agreement for new tenants.

A clause has been added that means if a tenant or member of the household is found guilty of carrying a knife or committing an offence with a knife or a bladed article, SLH will enforce legal action which may result in the tenant losing their home.

In July Merseyside Police launched Operation Target – a forcewide campaign to tackle serious and violent crime, including knife crime, across Merseyside.

We have been working alongside partners to carry out a number of different initiatives, disruption activity and education.

This week Merseyside Police is also taking part in a national week of action, Operation Sceptre, to tackle knife crime.

Community policing Inspector Paul Holden said: "We work very closely with a number of our partner agencies including housing associations as we know that tackling the issue of knife crime is not something that we can do alone.

"I am pleased to see that SLH has taken this robust approach to the issue. People who choose to carry knives have to realise that as well as putting themselves and other people in danger there are also consequences to their actions.

"If the fear of losing their home as a consequence of being convicted of carrying or using a knife means that they think twice then this will be successful.

"We are also working with other social providers to hopefully encourage them to follow the same path."

Julie Marsh, executive director for neighbourhood management at South Liverpool Homes said: "As a housing association, our role is to provide more than just a roof over people’s heads and dealing with anti-social behaviour is a vital part of what we do.

"The spate of knife crime is a real concern in our communities and adding this new clause to our tenancy agreement is a step towards supporting the police in combatting this scourge.

"We want to build safe and supportive communities where people feel happy and secure in their homes and we hope that this approach sends out a strong message out to the community that we will not tolerate any form of illegal activity in our homes."