Landlord Harassing You? It's A Criminal Offence
If your landlord is turning up unannounced, threatening you, cutting off services or trying to force you out, that is not a dispute about your tenancy. It is a criminal offence, and there are people whose job is to stop it today.
If it is happening right now
- If you feel unsafe or you have been locked out, call 999. Say the words "illegal eviction" or "harassment of a tenant". It is a criminal matter and police can attend.
- Contact your council's tenancy relations or housing options team. Many have officers who deal only with this and can intervene the same day.
- Ring Shelter's free emergency helpline on 0808 800 4444.
- Do not leave the property unless you are unsafe. Leaving voluntarily weakens your position considerably.
What counts as harassment
Under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, it is a criminal offence to do things likely to interfere with your peace or comfort, with the intention of making you leave or give up your rights.
It includes:
- Changing the locks, or removing doors and windows
- Cutting off gas, electricity or water, or letting a supply lapse deliberately
- Entering repeatedly without notice, or when you have said no
- Threats, abuse, or intimidating messages and calls
- Turning up constantly, or at unreasonable hours
- Removing your belongings
- Deliberately refusing repairs to make living there unbearable
- Moving other people in, or threatening to
- Threatening you with eviction you know is not lawful
It does not have to be violent, and a landlord does not have to admit their intention. A pattern of conduct that makes your home unliveable is enough.
Illegal eviction is the more serious version: putting you out, or preventing you returning, without a court order. Only a court can end a tenancy, and only a county court bailiff or High Court enforcement officer can remove you. Not a landlord, not an agent, not anyone they send.
None of it becomes lawful because you owe rent
Worth stating plainly, because it is the excuse most often given.
Rent arrears do not entitle a landlord to change the locks, cut off the electricity or harass you out. If they want possession they must serve a valid notice on a proper ground and get a court order. Anything else is an offence regardless of what you owe.
The same applies if your notice period has expired. Expiry does not end your tenancy. Only a court order does.
What to do
1. Record everything
This is what every route below depends on.
- A dated log: what happened, when, who was there, what was said
- Screenshots of messages and call logs. Do not delete anything, however unpleasant
- Photographs of anything physical, changed locks, removed doors, damaged belongings
- Names of witnesses, including neighbours
- Crime reference numbers every time you contact the police
2. Put your objection in writing, if it is safe
One short factual message. "You entered the property on 14 March without notice. Please give 24 hours' written notice in future, as required." Keep a copy.
Sometimes that ends it, because some landlords genuinely do not know the rules. If you think writing will provoke them, skip this and go straight to the council.
3. Council tenancy relations team
The most useful call most tenants never make. These officers deal with harassment and illegal eviction specifically, can contact your landlord directly, and can prosecute.
Ask for "tenancy relations" or "housing options" and say you are being harassed by your landlord.
4. Free legal advice
Shelter and Citizens Advice both advise on this at no cost, and can help you get an injunction if needed. Some housing solicitors act under legal aid for illegal eviction, which is one of the areas where legal aid still exists.
What you can get
More than most people realise.
An injunction ordering the landlord to stop, or to let you back in. These can be obtained quickly in urgent cases, and breaching one is contempt of court.
Damages for the harassment itself, not only for financial loss. Awards for illegal eviction are frequently substantial.
A Rent Repayment Order. Harassment and illegal eviction are grounds for one, and since 1 May 2026 the maximum has doubled to 24 months' rent, with two years to apply. On a £950 property that is a ceiling of £22,800. How to claim money back from your landlord.
Prosecution. Councils do prosecute, and conviction can bring an unlimited fine and a criminal record, plus a banning order in serious cases.
If you have been locked out
- Call the police. Say "illegal eviction". Ask them to attend.
- Call the council's tenancy relations team. They can often get you back in the same day.
- Do not break in. However tempting, and however clearly you are in the right, it complicates your position.
- Do not sign anything agreeing to surrender the tenancy.
- Get advice immediately. Shelter's emergency line exists for exactly this.
- Keep paying rent if you can, since it demonstrates the tenancy continues.
Why this is different since May 2026
Section 21 no-fault eviction was abolished on 1 May 2026. That matters here for two reasons.
First, the threat that used to keep people quiet is gone. A landlord can no longer serve a no-reason notice because you complained, so raising harassment no longer risks your home in the way it once did.
Second, some harassment is a direct consequence of that change. A landlord who could previously remove an inconvenient tenant easily now has to use a proper ground and prove it, and a minority respond by trying to force people out instead. That is precisely the conduct the 1977 Act criminalises.
Checking whether an eviction notice is valid covers what a lawful notice looks like.
Where the line is
Not everything unpleasant is harassment, and knowing the difference helps you be taken seriously.
Lawful: serving a valid notice on a proper ground; inspections with 24 hours' written notice at reasonable times; entering in a genuine emergency; asking for rent that is owed; taking court action.
Not lawful: entering without notice or against your refusal; anything designed to make you leave; threats; cutting off services.
A single genuine mistake usually is not harassment. A pattern is. Landlords entering without permission and quiet enjoyment cover the everyday version.
The honest summary
Harassment and illegal eviction are crimes, not disagreements. Only a court can end your tenancy and only a bailiff can remove you, whatever you owe and whatever any letter says.
Log everything, call your council's tenancy relations team, and get free advice from Shelter. The remedies are real and they are substantial.
And when you are safe, put it on the record. A landlord who behaves this way will do it to the next person, and a review is the only warning they will get.
This guide covers England and reflects the position at August 2026. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own protections. This is general information and not legal advice: if you are being harassed or have been evicted illegally, get advice on your own circumstances immediately. Sources: Protection from Eviction Act 1977, Shelter, illegal eviction, GOV.UK, rent repayment orders.