It's your home!

It’s your home! Your landlord or agent must not disturb or harass you. Your landlord can only visit when it is convenient for you, unless it’s an emergency. They must give you at least 24 hours’ notice.

If your landlord is harassing you or trying to force you out without going to court first, get advice immediately from the council’s private housing advice service.

If your landlord lives in the same flat or house as you, and shares a bathroom, kitchen or living room with you, then you are a lodger. Lodgers have fewer rights than tenants, and the information on this page does not apply to you.

Please see here for further information:

Shelter

Get advice if you are not sure whether or not you are a lodger. For example, you are not a lodger if:

you live with a “head tenant” who collects the rent; or
your landlord moved in after you first moved in; or
your landlord keeps a room for themselves but does not live there

Landlords must let you live in the home you rent without unnecessary interference. For as long as you live there, it is your home. That means you have a right to say who comes in and who does not.

You have a responsibility as a tenant to give reasonable access to your landlord when there is something that needs repairing. You should always be reasonable and polite to your landlord in the same way that you can expect of them.

Your landlord should give you at least 24 hours’ notice if they plan to come to your home – unless it’s an emergency.
Your landlord should never let themselves into your home without your permission.
Your landlord (or anyone employed by them, such as an agent) should not harass you in your home or make it difficult for you to stay there.

For further information on what constitutes harassment and what you can do about it, visit the Shelter website.

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 applies to landlords and tenants as much as to anybody else. This law makes it a criminal offence for any person to repeatedly (on at least two occasions, or on one occasion to each of two or more people) harass another person. Harassing someone includes threats of violence or other unacceptable behaviour that deliberately causes alarm or distress. This might include 'stalking' such as following, watching or spying on a tenant, or repeatedly arriving unexpectedly or at unreasonable hours.

If your landlord is harassing you, you should report the matter to the police.

If your landlord threatens you with violence, you should always call 999 and report them immediately.

Find out if your landlord or agent has been convicted of housing offences.