Illegal eviction and harassment

What is unlawful eviction?

Unlawful eviction occurs when a residential occupier is unlawfully deprived of either all or part of their accommodation.
It is nearly always an offence (unlawful) to evict a tenant without going to court first.
It is an offence to attempt to unlawfully evict.
It does not matter if the residential occupier is a tenant or licensee.
It does not matter if the tenant is in breach of their contract e.g. they owe rent, or won't allow the landlord in to do repairs, or the fixed term has come to an end.
Even if the landlord has a possession order it must be enforced with a bailiff's warrant.

What is harassment?

It is an offence for landlords or their agents to:

act so that they are likely to interfere with the peace and comfort of their tenants;
withdraw necessary services from people living in the accommodation (necessary services include water, gas and electricity, or lifts in a block of flats); or
act in a way that they know or have reasonable cause to believe that these actions are likely to cause the tenants to leave their home or refrain from exercising their rights.

unless they can show that they have good reason for doing these things.

Common examples of unlawful eviction are:

being locked out of a room
being deprived of a room that is normally shared with other people e.g. kitchen or living room
having part of the home taken away as a consequence of building works
being turned out of your home.

AND there is no court order giving the landlord permission to do any of this.

A tenant's rights and remedies include insisting that the property is in a good state or repair, seeking advice about their housing rights, or going to a rent tribunal.

The list of what may interfere with someone's quiet enjoyment is almost endless and will partly depend on the circumstances of the people living in the accommodation.

If any of the above is happening to you and you would like the Council to investigate further then please do not hesitate to contact Environmental Health Services on 01993 861060 or use the online service on the right of this page.

What action will the Council take?

We will try to prevent harassment and illegal eviction by resolving disputes between landlords and tenants. We may be able to negotiate with your landlord to allow you to return to your home if you want to/or to stop the harassment. Where it is proven that an offence has occurred the Council may seek to take legal action against the offender.

What advice can tenants get?

An advice booklet is available which describes some of the forms harassment may take, and sets out what tenants or licencees can do if they are being harassed or threatened with illegal eviction.

Preventing illegal eviction

An advice booklet is available which explains the basic rules about bringing a residential tenancy (or licence) to an end lawfully either by: