Has your landlord changed the locks? Removed your belongings? Cut off your services, or forced you out without a court order? That is illegal eviction, a
On this page
- What counts as illegal eviction?
- Step 1: Call the police
- Step 2: Contact your council's out-of-hours team
- Step 3: Contact Shelter
- Step 4: Gather evidence
- Step 5: Get back in
- What happens to the landlord?
- What if I left because of the landlord's behaviour?
- When should I contact Support for Tenants?
- Sources
- Related articles
Has your landlord changed the locks? Removed your belongings? Cut off your services, or forced you out without a court order? That is illegal eviction, a criminal offence. Here is what to do in the next few hours and days.
What counts as illegal eviction?
No landlord can legally evict you without going through the court. Illegal eviction includes:
- Locks changed while you are out
- You or your belongings physically removed
- Gas, electricity or water cut off to push you out
- Threats or bullying aimed at making you leave
- Doors, windows or fixtures removed so the home cannot be lived in
- The landlord coming in and refusing to leave, or taking over the home so you cannot use it
These acts stay unlawful even where rent is owed. The tenancy agreement's wording changes nothing. Neither does the landlord owning the home.
Step 1: Call the police
Call 999 if you are in immediate danger. If you have been locked out, call 101.
Say you have been illegally evicted and ask the police to attend. They hold the power to help you back in, and to arrest the landlord for criminal harassment or illegal eviction.
Police do not always treat tenancy rows as urgent. Stand firm. Illegal eviction is a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Ask for a duty sergeant if needed.
Step 2: Contact your council's out-of-hours team
Every council carries a duty to look into illegal eviction. Many run a 24-hour emergency line or an out-of-hours housing team.
Search your council's name plus "illegal eviction" or "housing emergency". The council can help you back in, and can act against the landlord.
Step 3: Contact Shelter
Shelter's emergency housing advice line is 0808 800 4444: free, and open 24 hours a day for urgent situations.
They can explain your legal position. They can point you to the right agencies. And they can show you how to seek emergency housing where getting back in fails.
Step 4: Gather evidence
Record everything as it happens:
- Photograph the changed locks, removed belongings, or damage
- Screenshot every message from the landlord
- Note the date, the time, and exactly what the landlord said or did
- Get names and numbers of witnesses
The evidence matters to the police, and to any claim brought later.
Step 5: Get back in
Where the home stays yours and the tenancy lives, the right to go back in stays too. The county court can order the landlord to let you in. Sometimes that order comes within hours.
Moving that fast needs legal help. Contact a housing solicitor or Citizens Advice. Legal Aid may be open on a low income. Search the Law Society's Find a Solicitor tool for one holding a Legal Aid contract.
What happens to the landlord?
Illegal eviction is a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The council can prosecute, and the landlord faces:
- An unlimited fine
- Up to 2 years in prison
A civil claim for damages runs open too. Courts can award substantial sums. That means the cost of a stay elsewhere, lost belongings, and general damages for the distress and the eviction itself.
A landlord who threw you out to dodge repairs hands weight to a disrepair claim too.
What if I left because of the landlord's behaviour?
Some landlords make the home unlivable instead: heating, water or electricity cut, or disrepair left so bad that leaving was the only real choice. That can count as "constructive eviction". Both the eviction claim and the underlying disrepair claim stay open to you.
When should I contact Support for Tenants?
Illegally evicted from a home carrying disrepair, say where the eviction dodged the repairs? Call us on 0800 030 4669.
No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.
Sources
Related articles
We review every guide at least twice a year and update it when the law changes. If you spot something out of date or wrong, email help@supportfortenants.co.uk.
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 15 June 2026. Checked by our SRA-regulated panel solicitors. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Any compensation figures or ranges shown are illustrative only, not a promise; every case is different.
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