Protection from Eviction Act 1977

The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (c. 43) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom protecting people renting accommodation from losing their homes without the involvement of a court.

Contents
The act aims to protect tenants from being ejected from their homes by landlords unless a court order exists.

Section 3 states that nobody can be forcibly evicted without a court order. The purpose of this section was to prevent aggressive landlords from becoming violent.

Section 3A states that there are a number of exclusions. These are primarily when a landlord resides in the same property as the tenant, or the accommodation falls within the definition of a hostel or hotel.

Section 5 states that everyone classified as having a lease or a licence, must be given four weeks' notice before they are evicted. Any "notice to quit" has no effect before this time.

Failure to respect the act
Police have frequently failed to intervene when tenants were forceably removed from their homes without a court order or when tenants' property was removed from their homes and locks changed without a court order. Shelter maintain that in 2016 nearly 50,000 tenants had their belongings removed, and the locks changed by landlords. Over 200,000 tenants were harassed by their landlord and some 600,000 had their landlord enter their home without permission. Police wrongly believe these are civil matters and police need better training in the law. Eviction without a court order is a criminal offence under section 1 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.