Your landlord keeps showing up without warning. They've "lost" your repair request three times now. Or maybe they've started leaving notes about your lease that read more like threats than reminders.
Whatever the specifics, your own home has started to feel unsafe. And you're wondering whether this is illegal, or whether your landlord is simply being difficult.
If your landlord is deliberately making your life miserable to push you out or stop you from exercising your rights, that's harassment. In England and Wales, it's a criminal offence.
What is considered harassment from a landlord
The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 says that harassment means anything likely to interfere with your peace or comfort, or persistently taking away services you need to live in your home. So if your landlord is doing things to make your home unliveable or to frighten you into leaving, that behaviour is against the law.
Here's what it looks like in practice:
- Turning up without warning. Your landlord needs to give at least 24 hours' written notice before entering, and only at reasonable times. The only exception is a genuine emergency like a burst pipe.
- Cutting off gas, electricity, or water. Persistently withdrawing services you need to live there is harassment if your landlord knew, or had good reason to know, it was likely to push you out. They do not have to admit that was the plan.
- Refusing to fix things. Deliberately ignoring repair requests until the place falls apart around you.
- Threatening eviction after you complain. You reported damp to the council and now your landlord wants you out. That's landlord retaliation, and it's specifically prohibited.
- Changing the locks while you're out. This is illegal eviction, a separate criminal offence in its own right.
- Constant calls, texts, or visits. Landlord intimidation doesn't have to be loud. Sometimes it's a pattern of small acts designed to wear you down.
Landlord harassment laws in England and Wales
Three laws do the heavy lifting.
The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 makes harassment a criminal offence. On conviction, your landlord faces an unlimited fine and up to 2 years in prison. Your local council can investigate and prosecute your landlord itself, and that costs you nothing.
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 gives you the right to take civil action and get an injunction. That's a court order telling your landlord to stop, backed by the threat of contempt of court if they ignore it.
Since 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 has strengthened these protections. Section 21 "no fault" evictions are abolished in England. And for the first time, your council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 for harassment or illegal eviction, as an alternative to taking your landlord to the criminal courts. If your landlord retaliates after a legitimate complaint, the consequences are steeper than before.
How to report landlord harassment
Before you report anything, gather your evidence. Write down every incident with the date, time, and what happened. Save texts, emails, voicemails, and WhatsApp messages. Photograph any damage. If neighbours witnessed something, ask them to note down what they saw.
Then you have several options, and none of them cost you a penny.
Your local council. Ask for the tenancy relations officer (sometimes called a housing enforcement officer). They investigate harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act. They can take your landlord to criminal court. You don't need a solicitor.
The police. If there are threats, violence, or illegal entry, call 101 (or 999 if you're in immediate danger). Get a crime reference number and keep it safe.
Remedy Legal. We can help you gather and organise your evidence, deal with your council or the court, and stand up for your rights.
Can you sue your landlord for harassment?
Yes. You can take your landlord to the County Court for compensation, and the amounts can be significant. How the court works out the figure depends on whether the harassment forced you out of your home.
If a landlord's harassment drives you out and you are not let back in, the court can award damages based on the difference between what the property is worth with you living in it and what it would fetch empty (Housing Act 1988, sections 27 and 28). In London and other high-value areas, that gap can run to tens of thousands of pounds. If you are still living in the property, that particular measure does not apply, but you can still claim: common-law damages for the loss of your quiet enjoyment, plus distress, inconvenience, and any money the harassment has cost you. On a larger claim the court can order your landlord to cover your legal costs. Smaller claims are usually heard on the small claims track, where each side normally pays its own way.
If the criminal courts convict your landlord separately, the penalties stack: unlimited fine plus up to 2 years in prison, on top of whatever compensation you receive through the civil route.
Start with three things today:
- Record everything. Date, time, what happened. Include things from weeks ago. Your memory now is sharper than it will be in three months.
- Send something in writing. An email or letter to your landlord describing the behaviour and asking them to stop. This creates a paper trail showing you raised it.
- Call your council. Ask for the tenancy relations officer. They can investigate and prosecute, and it costs you nothing.
You don't have to work this out alone. Remedy helps renters in England and Wales figure out their next move when a landlord crosses the line.
