Introduction

This chapter focuses on ‘the oldest, most common … of contractual relations’ (Englander, 1983, p 4), the relationship between landlord and tenant, and explores whether there is scope for tenancy agreements, as an embodiment of the legal relationship between contracting parties, to be used more effectively as a management tool to contribute towards preventing and controlling anti-social behaviour (ASB).

The above quote by Cotterrell, highlighting the prominent distinctions between ideals of legal behaviour and actual social relations, seems highly appropriate to introduce a discussion about the role of the law as embodied in tenancy agreements shaping behaviour. This theme is explored throughout this chapter and links to Helen Carr and Dave Cowan's discussion in Chapter Three (this volume) of how interpretations of legislation and legal rhetoric shape the conceptualisation of ASB. This chapter revisits the landlord–tenant relationship where traditionally breaches of covenants in tenancy agreements were dealt with through the mechanisms of contract and property law, and explores the role and use of tenancy agreements as a device to control behaviour. Theoretical perspectives about the limitations of the law in influencing individual behaviour are acknowledged and discussed. Evidence from empirical research about the ways in which landlords and tenants use tenancy agreements is drawn on, and in the light of the findings, the chapter discusses the extent to which the process of setting up the tenancy can be used actively and constructively to ensure that chosen lifestyles do not infringe the covenants that have been signed up to. In this sense, control and prevention of ASB in a civil law context are explored rather than disciplinary procedures and sanctions.

Legal mechanisms and individual behaviour

This chapter highlights the difficulties in assuming that individuals are aware of the role of the legal framework in influencing their behaviour, and argues that a more proactive approach on the part of landlords at the initial stages of the tenancy, and if appropriate, throughout, may have a more positive impact on tenant behaviour than legislation and the threat of sanctions as embodied in tenancy agreements.