Question 1

What is a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)?

Accepted Answer

In the UK, local councils are responsible for issuing Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to address issues affecting their communities. Introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, PSPOs are designed to tackle problems in specific areas that may harm the quality of life for residents.

To see if your area is covered by a PSPO -

Leeds City Council

Calderdale Council

If you live in one of the following areas-

Headingley

Hyde Park

Woodhouse Moor

Parts of Burley

Parts of Woodhouse

Little London

Little Woodhouse

As of 2024, a PSPO is in effect. The PSPO prohibits:

Antisocial Behaviour

Unauthorised events in a public place that cause a nuisance

antisocial behaviour or obstruction of public footpaths and highways by groups of 2 or more people. Those who breach this prohibition can be required to leave the area (or part of it) for 24 hours

Drinking alcohol in public where that is linked to causing antisocial behaviour

Verbal insults, including sexualised comments and gestures towards women

Urinating or defecating in a public place that is not a “public convenience”

Taking drugs or psychoactive substances in public

Rubbish

All rubbish should be in bins

Bins should not be left in public places except for after 6pm the night before collection and taken in by 9pm on the day of collection

Read the North West Leeds PSPO and map of the area covered.

Question 2

What if I have an emergency outside of office hours?

Accepted Answer

Pickards has an Out-of-Hours team dedicated to assisting you promptly. Simply contact our Out-of-Hours team by calling our regular landline number: 0113 274 6642.

Common issues outside of our office hours often involve maintenance problems and lockouts.

Below, we provide guidance on how to address these common concerns.

Maintenance:

If you experience a maintenance issue when our offices are closed, report it using our maintenance portal. If the situation requires immediate attention, please call 0113 274 6642; our Out-of-Hours team will support. The team are equipped to handle various queries and can, if necessary, coordinate with contractors to resolve a issue promptly.

Lock out:

If you have locked yourself out of your bedroom or property, our Out-of-Hours team, can arrange a locksmith to attend your property on your behalf. A cost will be associated with this service and will be invoiced to you shortly after.

Smell gas:

If you can smell gas:

Call the National Gas Emergency Service External link immediately on  0800 111 999 – make a note of the reference number they give you

Fire:

In the event of a fire:

Raise the alarm to warn other occupants – shout ‘FIRE, FIRE, FIRE’.

Ensure that no one is in immediate danger.

Call the Fire Brigade – 999

Leak:

If there’s a leak, you might need to shut off your water at the stop tap. There could be multiple stop taps in your property, typically found in one of three places: the cellar, utility room, or kitchen.

Additionally, many individual appliances have their own isolator valve, which can also be useful if you can identify the source of the leak.

Power cut:

If you have a power cut in your property you should complete the following steps to establish the cause of the tripped electrics.

Firstly, check to see if there has been a power outage in your using the live power cuts map provided by National Grid..

If you there has not been a power outage in your area you should:

1. Go to the fuse box and ensure that all switches are to the very bottom, including the mains switch and the RCD Switch (these are the bigger switches).

2. Put RCD switch to the top and mains switch to the top, these two should always stay up.

3. Working from left to right put all of the smaller switches up to the very top, waiting around 10 seconds between each switch. If the item that tripped the electrics in the first place is still plugged in, it will cause the smaller switch to not stay up. You must locate this item and unplug from the wall and complete the above steps again.

4. Each small switch should be labelled with an area/description – i.e. Ground Floor Sockets. This will show you which area the item is plugged into, to work out which appliance/plug in is that’s tripping the electrics you will need to turn off and unplug everything that is plugged in on that circuit.

5. Once you have managed to keep all the switches up on the fuse board you can then start to plug each item back in (one at a time), this will show you which item is causing the electrics to trip.

6. The item that has tripped the electrics will probably require the fuse changing. If it is an appliance that Pickards have supplied you, click here and we will arrange an electrician to attend and take a look.

Question 3

What should I do if I can smell gas?

Accepted Answer

If you can smell gas:

Call the National Gas Emergency Service External link immediately on

0800 111 999 - make a note of the reference number they give you

Put out any naked flames, and don’t smoke or strike any matches

Turn off all your gas appliances and don’t use them until they’re checked by an engineer

Turn off your electrical appliances, and avoid turning any switches on or off

Open your doors and windows

Contact Pickard Properties for additional support.

My neighbours are being noisy, what should I do?

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