Revenge eviction
Find out about revenge eviction, also known as retaliatory eviction, how the law can protect you and where to get help.
About revenge eviction
A revenge eviction, also known as a retaliatory eviction, occurs when tenant makes a legitimate complaint to their landlord about the condition of their property and, in response, instead of making the repair, their landlord serves them with an eviction notice.
Where we can help
We cannot take enforcement action against a private landlord because they have served you with an eviction notice.
We can help in situations where your landlord has not responded to your complaint.
Your landlord has 14 days to respond to you, and provide a satisfactory timescale for carrying out any repairs.
If your landlord does not provide a satisfactory response, then you can contact the Private Sector Housing team and ask us to carry out an inspection to verify the need for a repair.
Contact us if you need help with a private housing problem, or if you have a question about our private housing services.
Housing health and safety rating system inspection
We can undertake a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection, following the correct Section 239 Notice procedure to tell the landlord about the inspection. If the inspection verifies your complaint our enforcement officer will take appropriate action. This could include serving an Improvement Notice or Notice of Emergency Remedial Action to your landlord.
If we serve an Improvement Notice or Notice of Emergency Remedial Action, you may be protected against revenge eviction under the Retaliatory Eviction and the Deregulation Act 2015.
Your landlord will not be able to evict you under the ‘no-fault eviction’ procedure for 6 months.
Your landlord will also need to make sure the repairs are completed.
Further help and resources
There are organisations that provide resources that can help if you're the victim of a revenge eviction.
You can get:
- advice on housing rights, compensation, and next steps from Citizen's Advice
- specialist housing advice and legal information from Shelter
- government-funded legal advice from Civil Legal Advice (CLA), if you're eligible
- help pursuing compensation or tenancy-related claims from County Court
- advice from Action Fraud if you believe a criminal fraud offence may have occurred
- help reporting unfair or misleading practices from Trading Standards