Landlord right of entry, harassment and unlawful eviction (England & Wales)

Tenants have the right to live in their home undisturbed. gov.uk puts the baseline plainly: a landlord has to give at least 24 hours' notice and visit at a reasonable time of day, unless it is an emergency and they need immediate access.

The statutory rights of entry are narrower than most people assume, and there are two distinct ones:

• Inspection. Where the landlord has the repairing obligation in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (structure, exterior, and installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating), section 11(6) implies a right for the landlord, or someone authorised in writing, "at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours' notice in writing to the occupier" to enter "for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair". That is a right to look, not a general right to do works.
• Carrying out repairs. For assured tenancies, section 16 of the Housing Act 1988 implies a term that the tenant "shall afford to the landlord access to the dwelling-house ... and all reasonable facilities for executing therein any repairs which the landlord is entitled to execute". It sets no notice period itself; the 24-hour, reasonable-time standard is the accepted practice.

Everything beyond that runs on the tenant's agreement. Shelter advises tenants that a landlord or agent should not come in without telling them and asking if it is okay, that the tenant can suggest a different time, and that in shared housing the landlord cannot enter a tenant's bedroom without consent. Repeatedly entering without notice or permission can amount to harassment.

If access is repeatedly refused, the landlord's lawful last resort is a county court injunction requiring the tenant to permit entry. Forcing the door is never lawful self-help, and pressuring a tenant with repeated unannounced visits risks committing the harassment offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 described below.

The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 creates the two core offences in England and Wales:

• Unlawful eviction (section 1(2)). Unlawfully depriving a residential occupier of occupation of the premises, or any part of them, or attempting to, is an offence unless the person proves they reasonably believed the occupier had stopped living there. Section 3 adds that possession can only be recovered through court proceedings: changing the locks is not an option, whatever the arrears.
• Harassment (section 1(3) and 1(3A)). Doing acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the occupier or their household, or persistently withdrawing or withholding services reasonably required to live in the home (gas, electricity, water), is an offence when done to make the occupier leave or give up their rights. Since 1988, a landlord or agent commits the offence on the lower standard of knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, the conduct would have that effect.

Penalties for landlord harassment and illegal eviction run to six months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction, and up to two years on indictment. Local authorities prosecute (many employ tenancy relations officers), and gov.uk notes councils can alternatively issue civil penalties of up to £40,000 for harassment or illegal eviction. Where there is violence or a lockout, the police should be called.

A tenant who is unlawfully evicted has two overlapping civil routes:

• The statutory tort (Housing Act 1988, ss.27 to 28). Damages are measured by the landlord's gain: the difference between the value of the landlord's interest with the tenant in place and with the tenant gone, assessed immediately before the occupier left. The Supreme Court confirmed in Loveridge v Lambeth [2014] UKSC 65 that this exceptionally awards the landlord's gain rather than the tenant's loss. Two consequences follow: where the landlord gains little (a periodic tenant with limited security, or a tenant who is reinstated before proceedings finish), statutory damages can be nominal, and reinstatement or an unreasonably refused offer of reinstatement can defeat or reduce the claim.
• Common law. Breach of the quiet enjoyment covenant and trespass, with general, special, aggravated and exemplary damages available. In Smith v Khan [2018] EWCA Civ 1137 the Court of Appeal held general damages compensate the anxiety, inconvenience and mental stress of losing one's home and endorsed a bracket of roughly £100 to £300 per night. Shelter Legal reports total awards in reported cases from a few hundred pounds up to £90,500 depending on security of tenure, conduct and duration.

Courts can also order a landlord to let the tenant back in, including by emergency injunction.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and its main tenancy reforms took effect in England on 1 May 2026: section 21 no-fault evictions were abolished, existing assured shorthold tenancies converted to periodic assured tenancies, and possession now requires one of the reformed statutory grounds. The old retaliatory-eviction shield in section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015, which blocked a section 21 notice after a council improvement notice, was repealed along with the regime it policed; protection against retaliatory eviction now flows from the grounds-based system itself.

Wales runs its own system of occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which likewise requires notice before entry, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate tribunals and statutes with the same core principle: eviction needs legal process, never self-help.