Can My Landlord Evict Me for Complaining About Disrepair?

Short answer: No, not legally, not as a direct response to a complaint. Retaliatory eviction has been restricted in England and Wales since 2015, and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 has now removed the main legal tool private landlords used for it (the Section 21 "no-fault" notice). Social tenants (council and housing association) have always had much stronger security of tenure, your landlord cannot evict you simply for raising a complaint. Private tenants are now better protected too. Complaining about disrepair, asking for repairs in writing, or bringing a disrepair claim is your legal right, and the law backs you up.

That said, "cannot legally" and "will not try" are different things. Knowing the rules is your strongest protection.

If you are a social tenant (council or housing association)

You almost certainly have a secure tenancy (council) or an assured tenancy (housing association). Both give very strong protection. Your landlord can only end the tenancy by court order, on specific statutory grounds (the most common being serious rent arrears or significant antisocial behaviour). "Made a complaint about damp and mould" is not a statutory ground for possession.

If a social landlord ever tried to evict you because you complained, that would be:

• A breach of the regulator's Consumer Standards (Transparency, Influence and Accountability)
• Potentially harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977
• Direct evidence in any subsequent housing disrepair claim

In practice it almost never happens. What does happen is that complaints get ignored. When a landlord ignores your reports after the Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints process, you may have a claim, call us free on 0800 030 4669.

If you are a private tenant

The law here changed materially in 2025-26.

Before the Renters' Rights Act 2025, private landlords used Section 21 "no-fault" notices to remove tenants, including, in many documented cases, immediately after the tenant complained about disrepair. The Deregulation Act 2015 introduced some protection (a Section 21 was invalid if the landlord had been served a relevant local-authority improvement notice within the previous 6 months) but it was narrow.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolishes Section 21 entirely for new and existing private assured shorthold tenancies, converting them to a new form of periodic assured tenancy. Possession is now only possible on specific statutory grounds (broadly: serious rent arrears, antisocial behaviour, landlord moving in, selling, etc.). "Complained about damp and mould" is not one of them.

This is the most significant change in private tenant security since the original 1988 Act.

What retaliatory eviction looks like

Even where landlords cannot legally evict for complaining, they sometimes try indirect routes:

• A sudden Section 8 notice citing arrears that the tenant disputes
• A "we're selling" notice, which under the new rules has restrictions and protections
• Pressuring the tenant to surrender the tenancy "voluntarily"
• Harassment, withdrawing services, refusing repairs more aggressively, turning up unannounced

All of these have countermeasures. Critically:

• Never leave just because you have been told to. Until a court has made a possession order and a bailiff has carried it out, you have not been legally evicted.
• Get advice immediately if you receive a notice. Citizens Advice, Shelter, your local council's housing options team.
• Document everything, every notice, every visit, every text.

Asking for repairs is not "asking for trouble"

A common worry, particularly among older tenants and tenants with insecure immigration status, is that complaining will trigger eviction. The law in England and Wales now actively protects against that:

1. Written reports of disrepair are evidence. They strengthen any future case for compensation and protect against any retaliatory action.
2. Making a disrepair claim is your legal right and cannot lawfully trigger an eviction.
3. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 removes the main tool used for retaliatory eviction in the private sector.
4. Social landlord regulation makes retaliatory action a regulatory failing.

What to do if you think you are being targeted

1. Get the eviction notice or threat in writing, never just verbal.
2. Do not leave. Until a court order has been made and enforced, you have not been evicted.
3. Call Shelter's free housing helpline on 0808 800 4444 for immediate emergency advice.
4. Tell your local council's homelessness prevention team, they have a duty to help.
5. Document the timeline. When did you complain? When did the eviction action follow? The proximity matters.
6. Continue the disrepair complaint. Use our letter builder for a clean, dated formal complaint that starts the landlord's formal clock and creates a paper trail.

Does a disrepair claim affect your tenancy?

No. Bringing a housing disrepair claim does not, in itself, give a landlord any ground for possession. Tenants regularly settle large disrepair claims and continue living in the same property, sometimes with the works done and the relationship reset.

Get help

If you are dealing with disrepair and worried about complaining, call Support for Tenants on 0800 030 4669 for a free assessment. We are a regulated company, not a law firm, we work with solicitors who run housing disrepair cases on a no-win-no-fee basis.

Free alternative: Shelter (0808 800 4444) and Citizens Advice both offer free advice.

Sources: Deregulation Act 2015, retaliatory eviction (legislation.gov.uk); Renters' reform in England: what's happening and when, House of Commons Library.

Support For Tenants is a trading name of Cyntex Group Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Claims Management Company. FRN 1020217. Registered in England and Wales.