Section 152 of the Housing Act 1996 empowers local authorities to apply for injunctions against any person who has used, or threatened to use, violence against someone residing in, visiting or otherwise engaging in a lawful activity in or in the locality of local authority premises. The court has to be satisfied that there is a significant risk of harm to the victim or persons of a similar description before an injunction will be granted.

An injunction pursuant to Section 152 can forbid someone from antisocial behaviour within the locality and entering residential premises in the locality or the locality itself. The court can attach a power of arrest to any clauses of the order.

When the Act came into force, local authorities routinely applied for injunctions with powers of arrest attached to protect those engaging in a lawful activity in the locality. An example where such an injunction could be granted would be to protect school teachers teaching in the school which happened to be in the locality of the local authority premises.

However, this practice was stopped after the decision of the Court of Appeal in Enfield Borough Council -v- B (A Minor). In this case, Enfield applied for an injunction pursuant to Section 152 against a young person who assaulted Social Services’ staff at the Social Services office. The office happened to be in the locality of local authority premises. The application for an injunction pursuant to Section 152 was refused by the lower courts and on appeal, refused by the Court of Appeal.