In a bid to better protect renters in the capital, police in London have been ordered to start arresting landlords who illegally and sometimes violently evict tenants.
The move reportedly comes amid growing concern about officers showing bias and enabling some unlawful evictions.
Police will also be explicitly told that landlords using or threatening violence to enter an occupied home are committing a crime.
Renters’ rights campaigners estimate that about 8,000 tenants a year are illegally evicted in England, but only a handful of cases are reported as potential crimes.
Now officers should “arrest where necessary”, the new guidance seen by the Guardian, will say. They will be told a landlord changing locks, forcibly throwing a tenant out, cutting off the gas and electricity, and using threatening and bullying behaviour are signs of an illegal eviction.
The guidance has been drawn up between Scotland Yard, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and renters groups including Generation Rent.
Khan identified in 2018 that illegal evictions in the private rented sector were “a major problem” that was most likely to affect vulnerable renters who had little awareness of their rights. But the problem has persisted despite attempts to train thousands of police officers.
Announcing the new guidance, Khan said: “For too long, rogue landlords have been able to take advantage of the fact that, until now, there have been few protections in place to safeguard London’s renters from illegal evictions.”
A Scotland Yard spokesperson said the force had been working closely with City Hall on protecting the rights of tenants and the guidance would be posted on its internal intranet.Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, commented: “Renters need the full protection of the law when threatened with an illegal eviction. Police officers must not dismiss them as civil matters or, worse still, assist any landlord in these criminal acts.”
Police will be told to separate civil from criminal acts and that harassment, assault and use of force or violence to gain entry are crimes. They must warn landlords they are committing an offence if they proceed, arrest where necessary and make sure the landlord lets the tenant back into the home.
A Met spokesperson said: “Starting at the point that the effort of a landlord or representative to evict an individual/individuals is illegal will prompt officers to ensure that there is a bailiff in place who is in possession of the relevant paperwork, and that due process – as per the legislation – has been followed.”
As a letting agent, I don’t disagree with this. Anyone changing the locks, or cutting off utilities illegally should be charged, but I question if the budget for the police is going to be increased to cover this? They are massively under-funded.
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I agree 100% that tenants should have safe and decent accommodation, and these rogue landlords have no place in the PRS. But, the Renters typically affected by this are likely to be those who are living under the radar and don’t want the authorities involved, probably have English as a second language, and don’t understand their rights now, let alone after this new plan. The landlords involved don’t care about the law. The Police don’t have the resources. Another ridiculous plan from Khan.
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This action by a very small minority of landlords, has been an arrestable offence for some years and the police should know that. It is their job to uphold the law after all. That said, I find tthis worrying, “A Met spokesperson said: “Starting at the point that the effort of a landlord or representative to evict an individual/individuals is illegal” Have they not heard of innocent until proven guilty? If they presume an eviction is illegal, they are overstepping their remit.
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I would assume that it was a misunderstanding, as obviously landlords and letting agents can’t ‘evict’ anyone, we can bring the contract to an end. The Courts are the only ones who can actually evict someone, the same as a mortgage lender can’t just have someone from the closest HSBC or Barclays branch turn up with a locksmith, there must be a legal process behind it.
But you are right that the police should be aware of this, they are just too under-funded and over-extended to deal with it.
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The government should regulate PRS in that landlords should be qualified and be members of a association such as PropertyMark, NRLA etc. also they should CLM and be members of a Redress Scheme, if they don’t want to be qualified or join the suggested association then the alternative should be to use an agent.
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But property mark and MNRLA are toothless organizations
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Thats irrelevant, my point is that landlords would at least have to be qualified and be part of CMP and Redress scheme to be members.
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Your remarks obviously will only apply to England.
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I could write a book on things landlords do, they shouldn’t!
While we are on the subject of who can and who can’t and criminalising conduct. How about tenants being arrested under the Fraud act when they ‘go beyond’ to withhold rent, continue to use the ‘home service’ and pocket the housing benefits they are receiving for the purpose of rent?
Obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception was formerly a statutory offence in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. It was replaced with the more general offence of fraud by the Fraud Act 2006.
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While it may or may not be the case that landlords should be arrested, it seems a curious spectacle to see police policy being defined in collusion with an anti-landlord politician and anti-landlord lobby groups. If the law is deemed to unfairly favour the landlord, why would some want to use illegal measures in the first place?
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