Illegal eviction injunctions and compensation
If your landlord evicts you illegally, you can ask a court for:
an injunction - this is a court order that lets you back into your home
compensation
For example, compensation for breaking your tenancy agreement, damage to belongings or physical injury.
Find out about other help after an illegal eviction.
You can apply for an injunction or compensation yourself. But it can be hard to do this without help.
Get a solicitor or legal adviser to help you if you can.
Free legal help after an illegal eviction
You could get free legal advice, help with court forms and help at the hearing if you're on a low income or benefits.
Law centres can give legal help with housing and homelessness problems.
Find a legal aid adviser on GOV.UK
Filter your search by postcode or category of law. Use the 'housing' filter.
Find a solicitor on the Law Society website
Select 'houses, property and neighbours' as your legal issue.
Search by area to find a local solicitor.
Filter the results by ticking 'accepts legal aid'.
Civil Legal Advice give phone advice. They can refer you to a solicitor for more help.
Check if you qualify on GOV.UK
You can contact Civil Legal Advice on 0345 345 4 345 and ask them to call you back.
No win no fee agreements
A solicitor might help with a compensation claim under a conditional fee agreement.
This is often called 'no win no fee'.
No win no fee means you do not pay your lawyer unless you win your case.
Court fees
You usually have to pay a fee when you ask a court for an injunction or compensation.
You can ask the court to tell your landlord to pay you any money you spend on court fees.
You might not have to pay if you are on benefits or have a low income.
Find out about help with court fees on GOV.UK
Injunctions
You can ask the court to tell your landlord to:
let you back into your home
stop harassing you
A solicitor or legal adviser can complete the court forms for you and send them to your local county court.
You usually have to wait at least 3 days for a hearing unless it's an emergency.
Emergency injunctions
You can apply for an emergency injunction if you're homeless after an illegal eviction.
Emergency injunctions are called 'without notice' injunctions.
You could get an emergency injunction on the same day you apply.
There is another court hearing at a later date for both you and your landlord.
A solicitor or legal adviser can complete the form for an emergency injunction. Or you could apply yourself if you cannot get legal advice straight away.
Applying without a solicitor
You need to write a statement with these details:
the address of your tenancy and the dates you lived there
dates and details of your landlord's behaviour and harassment
what happened when you were evicted
where you are staying now
what happened to your personal belongings
For example, say if your landlord was violent or used threats to force you to leave.
Say in your statement and tell court staff why you need an emergency injunction. For example, because you have nowhere to live or you need to get your belongings back.
Hand your statement in with your court form and keep copies.
Use form N16A to ask the court for an emergency injunction.
Compensation
You can claim compensation for:
illegal eviction
You can do this at the same time as applying for an injunction or as a separate claim.
This kind of compensation is sometimes called 'damages'.
Your landlord will not have to pay compensation for illegal eviction if the court decides that they had good reasons to believe that you left the property.
Use form N1 to apply to the court to order your landlord to pay you compensation.
How much compensation you get depends on:
your tenancy type
how your landlord behaved
The court can tell your landlord to pay more if your landlord was violent.
Last updated: 16 September 2024
