Help with evictions
It’s illegal for your landlord or an agency to evict you from your home without following the correct steps.
If they do not, they may be guilty of illegally evicting or harassing you.
Your landlord cannot make you leave your home by threatening you.
When you can be evicted
Your landlord can only evict you for certain reasons, for example:
- you have not paid the rent
- you are committing antisocial behaviour
- you have broken other terms of your tenancy
- your landlord or their close family needs to move into the property
- your landlord needs to sell the property
Your landlord cannot evict you to move in or sell the property during the first 12 months of your tenancy.
Your landlord must give you the proper notice to leave your home. The amount of time they will need to give you depends on their reason for giving notice.
If you do not leave at the end of the notice period
Your landlord must apply to the court for a possession order.
Your landlord will need to show that they followed the correct steps for tenancy deposits, including protecting it in a government-approved scheme.
If the court gives your landlord a possession order and you do not leave by the date in the order, your landlord must apply for a warrant for possession. This means bailiffs can evict you from the property.
If you owe rent and get housing benefits
If you claim Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, your landlord may be able to get the rent paid straight to them instead of evicting you. This is known as ‘managed payments’.
If you have an excluded tenancy or licence
For example, you live with your landlord, they only need to give you reasonable notice. The notice does not have to be in writing.
There are no set rules about what’s reasonable. It depends on:
- how long you’ve been living there
- how often you pay the rent
- whether you get on with your landlord
- how quickly the landlord needs another person to move in
Shelter has information about eviction of excluded occupiers
Rules for assured and regulated tenancies
If your tenancy started before 27 February 1997, you might have an assured or a regulated tenancy.
Your landlord will have to follow different rules to evict you. You’ll have increased protection from eviction.
Shelter has information about assured tenancies and regulated tenancies
Harassment and illegal eviction
Your landlord must follow the correct steps if they want to evict you. See GOV.UK for eviction rules landlords must follow
Your landlord may be guilty of illegal eviction if you:
- are not given the notice to leave the property that your landlord must give you
- find the locks have been changed
- are evicted without a court order
Even if your landlord’s property is repossessed by their mortgage lender, the lender must give you notice so you can find other accommodation.
Citizens Advice has information on repossession by your landlord’s mortgage lender.
Harassment
Harassment can include:
- stopping services, like electricity
- withholding keys, for example there are two tenants in a property, but the landlord will only give one key
- refusing to carry out repairs that are the landlord’s responsibilities
- antisocial behaviour by someone on the landlord’s behalf, for example a friend of the landlord moves in next door and causes problems
- threats and physical violence
- threatening to change the locks
- opening or taking post
- stopping access to temperature control
Shelter’s guidance on how to deal with harassment from landlords or agents
What you can do
Contact the police if physical violence or threats are involved or if someone is trying to remove you or your belongings from the property without either a:
- court order
- court appointed bailiff
The police can prevent you from being illegally evicted from your home.
Contact us for help if:
- you think you’re being harassed or threatened with illegal eviction
- the property you rent is being repossessed
- you think you’ve been illegally evicted
You’ll need to complete our online form before you contact us.
If you are homeless and have nowhere to stay tonight, call 0208 708 4002.
We’ll help you by:
- checking whether you have a legal right to stay in the property
- trying to resolve any disagreements with your landlord
- giving you advice on finding somewhere else to live
You could also contact:
You may have the right to be let back into your home, claim compensation, or apply for a rent repayment order.
