Retaliatory eviction is where after making a legitimate complaint to your landlord about the condition of their property the landlord serves an eviction notice, without carrying out the repairs.
The Deregulation Act 2015 (The Act) came into force on the 1st October 2015 and currently relates to all new assured shorthold tenancies that start on or after this date. This will eventually be rolled out to cover all tenancies. The Act is designed to protect tenants against retaliatory eviction after making a legitimate complaint regarding repairs to their rental property.
You must be aware that the Act does not apply in all cases. It will only apply if the landlord does not address repairs following a legitimate complaint and if following an inspection by one of our Private Sector Housing Officers either an improvement notice or a notice of emergency remedial action is served. If either notice is served a landlord cannot serve a section 21 notice for a period of 6 months.
For further information please refer to Retaliatory Eviction and the Deregulation Act 2015 guidance note.