Legal News

If you live in rented accommodation, the law protects you against harassment and illegal eviction. It is a criminal offence for a landlord to harass their tenant, or to evict them without following the correct legal procedure. If this occurs, a tenant could claim damages through court action.


Examples of illegal eviction

An eviction is generally illegal if your landlord (non-exhaustive):

• Changes the locks while you are out


• Stops you from using part of your home


• Forcibly throws you out


• Forces you to leave by threatening or harassing you

An unlawful eviction case is a little unusual. Unlike other housing claims, unlawful eviction is not a claim in and of itself – you cannot issue a claim for ‘unlawful eviction’ in the same way that you issue a claim for possession, or housing disrepair. Rather, it is an event which gives rise to a variety of different claims. The individual circumstances of each unlawful eviction will be different, and as such the grounds on which a claim is brought will differ from case to case.

Common ‘torts’ (the legal term for a civil wrongdoing) for which action is brought in the event of an unlawful eviction include:

• Trespass to land: the act of entering a person’s property without right or permission, and might also include an act to exclude the rightful occupier, such as changing the locks;


• Breach of contract: where an occupier is removed from the property by a process not as set out in the tenancy agreement;


• Harassment: which regularly plays a part in claims where a person has been forcibly removed from their property.

Harassment varies from the most inhuman and violent acts to the more subtle, which can still be frightening and distressing.


Examples of harassment

• Entering your home when you are not there or without your permission


• Persistently asking you to leave.


• Threatening you to make you leave, or offering you money to leave.


• Removing or restricting utility supplies such as water, gas or electricity supplies or failing to pay bills so that they are eventually disconnected.


• Forcing you to sign agreements which are designed to reduce your rights.


• Allowing the property to fall into such a bad state of repair that it becomes uncomfortable or even dangerous to live in.


• Refusing to let you into certain parts of your home, or letting you in, or letting you use facilities only at certain times.

Harassment may also give rise to a claim under the Equality Act 2010, if, for example, you have been harassed into leaving your property for reasons relating to a disability, your race, your sex, or another such protected characteristic, or if it was an aggravating factor in the eviction.


Eviction: your rights under the law

The legislation which protects you from eviction is dependent on your tenancy type. Most tenants will be protected under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, for example, if you are an Assured or Assured Shorthold Tenant, or a Secure Tenant. This is statutory protection – protection afforded by the law. You will also have contractual rights to a fair and lawful eviction in accordance with your tenancy agreement, which is a legally binding contract. It is also important to note that contractual terms cannot overrule statutory rights, so your tenancy agreement cannot ‘remove’ your rights to a lawful eviction.

Licensees, lodgers and excluded occupiers have much more limited statutory protection – however, you might still have a valid claim, depending on the nature of your occupation. Street v Mountford, a landmark court case from 1985, established that the nature of an agreement (i.e. whether the agreement is a tenancy or a licence) depends on the nature of the person’s occupation of the property, not just what is written on the tenancy agreement. In other words, even if you have a ‘licence agreement’, it might be possible to prove that you are in fact a tenant with full protection from unlawful eviction, if your landlord gave you certain rights which implied an intention to treat you as a tenant.


How can we help?

Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ housing department can help you to bring a civil claim against a landlord who has unlawfully evicted you. We can assist in obtaining an injunction against a landlord to allow you back into the property – however, this is only enforceable if the property is still vacant and available for re-entry, so it is important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible.

We can also assist in bringing a claim for damages against a landlord, for general loss/distress, and perhaps also for more specific expenses such as hotel bills and lost or damaged possessions.

All claims relating to an unlawful eviction are covered by legal aid, even a retrospective damages-only claim. If you do not qualify for legal aid, we will also consider taking your case under a Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA), more commonly known as a ‘No Win, No Fee’ agreement.

If you believe that you have been unlawfully evicted from your property and/or harassed by your landlord, please get in touch with our housing team.



Author Annabel Steele is a caseworker in the housing department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors and has experience handling a wide range of social housing matters. She is supervised by housing director Manjinder Kaur Atwal.


Contact Annabel on 020 3114 1243 or at annabels@duncanlewis.com

Contact Manjinder on 020 3114 1269 or at manjindera@duncanlewis.com