Protection from Eviction Act 1977

The Act has been the legal cornerstone of tenant protection for nearly 50 years. Section 1(2) makes unlawful eviction (removal without court order) a criminal offence. Section 1(3) makes harassment (acts likely to make a residential occupier give up their occupation, or persistent withdrawal of services) a criminal offence. Section 3 requires a court order before evicting any 'residential occupier' (broader than 'tenant'). Police can prosecute or refer to council Tenancy Relations Officers. Civil remedies (damages, injunctions) run in parallel.

In practice, the Act matters because of the breadth of the phrase residential occupier. It is not limited to people with a formal tenancy: it covers anyone occupying premises as a residence under a contract, a statutory right, or a rule of law restricting the owner's right to recover possession. That catches many people who assume they have no rights at all, including those whose fixed term has expired, family members with a licence to occupy, and occupiers under informal arrangements with no written agreement.

Worked example: Grace lives in a room in a house owned by her partner's brother, paying rent monthly with her own front-door key and exclusive use of the room. When the relationship breaks down she is told to leave by the weekend and the locks are changed. Because she does not share living accommodation with the owner, she is a residential occupier, so section 3 requires a court order before she can be removed and section 1 makes the lock change a criminal offence. Her council's tenancy relations officer writes to the owner the same day, and Grace is readmitted while a proper notice and possession claim run their course.

The pitfalls sit at the edges of the definition. Excluded occupiers — lodgers who share a kitchen, bathroom or living room with a resident landlord or their family, most holiday lets, and occupiers paying no rent — fall outside the court-order requirement and need only reasonable notice. Harassment under section 1(3) does not require an intention to evict if the landlord knew the conduct was likely to have that effect, which is a lower bar than many landlords realise. And prosecution is discretionary: the police and councils vary in how readily they act, so a parallel civil injunction is usually the faster route back in.

The Act is the statutory basis of the illegal eviction offence and supports a rent repayment order against the landlord. Since Section 21 was abolished, all lawful possession runs through Section 8 grounds and a court order. Read our guides to illegal eviction enforcement and eviction notices.