Housing officers are for the first time being offered bulletproof vests when they think they may be exposed to danger on visits to housing estates.

London and Quadrant housing trust is thought to be the first social landlord to provide this kind of protective clothing to staff.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), which represents housing officers, said the decision reflects the changing role of senior housing officers and the risks associated with implementing the government's antisocial behaviour agenda.

The CIH chief executive, David Butler, said: "We would always expect an employer to assess the potential risk to staff and take whatever precautions are necessary.

"I wouldn't want to get into the situation where bulletproof vests were routinely issued to housing staff - I think that would be very sad. But in those few situations where it is thought to be necessary, I can understand why it is being done."

London and Quadrant housing trust, which has 39,000 properties in London and the south-east, decided in August that bulletproof vests could be issued to staff, if necessary, following a risk assessment of their duties.

The decision followed a case earlier in the year when trust staff were involved in a police raid on a crack house, and were issued with bulletproof vests by officers, a trust spokeswoman explained.

She said: "Our staff were not in the frontline and were accompanied by police throughout."

The trust said it was unlikely it will ever have to issue bulletproof vests because it would be a last resort, and it would prefer to remove staff from danger.

But she added: "However, if in the final analysis, a situation assessment demands it, then staff will be able to obtain a bulletproof vest."

The National Housing Federation, which represents 1,400 housing associations in England, said it was the first time it was aware that an association had looked at providing bulletproof jackets to its staff.

He said: "Working alongside partners such as the police, associations are taking an increasingly active role in tackling antisocial behaviour.

"In a minority of cases, frontline staff may be working in volatile and unpredictable circumstances. In these cases the association will do its utmost to ensure its staff are properly supported and protected."

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