Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Many people are worried about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and how this could affect their housing. Click here to find out what COVID-19 means for you.

Eviction

Landlords must follow legal procedures to evict tenants. The procedure used depends on the type of tenancy you have and may involve court action. The pages below explain the eviction procedure for the most common types of tenancy.

You can also find out what to do if your landlord doesn’t follow the right procedure, illegally evicts or harasses you.

If you own your own home and your lender is trying to evict you for mortgage arrears, visit our section on mortgage repossession.

If you are being evicted, the sooner you seek advice, the better.

For urgent advice please call our expert housing advice helpline on 08000 495 495

or, for non-urgent enquiries please use our email advice service. An adviser will aim to reply to emails within five working days.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Emergency laws mean that:

  1. Most private or housing association tenants who get an eviction notice between 26 March 2020 and 23 July 2020 are entitled to 3 months’ notice before their landlord can apply to court
  2. Most private or housing association tenants who get an eviction notice between 24 July 2020 and 30 September 2020 are entitled to 6 months’ notice before their landlord can apply to court
  3. Most council tenants who get an eviction notice between 26 March 2020 and 30 September 2020 are entitled to 3 months’ notice before their landlord can apply to court
  4. All court proceedings for eviction are on hold until the 23 August 2020.
  • If you have received a notice of eviction from your landlord you should stay in your home. Evictions take time and you don’t have to leave at the end of your notice under current law
  • If your landlord has already applied to the court then your case will be put off until after the 23 August 2020
  • If your landlord wants to continue the case to evict you after the 23 August 2020 they will need to send a notice to you and to the court. In the notice they must give information to the court about the impact coronavirus has had on you and your family
  • You will be contacted by the court if this happens and you will be told if there is to be a court hearing. The hearing might be dealt with by video or audio link
  • You should still pay your rent during any notice period or while you are waiting for a court hearing.

See Gov.Wales for the current Welsh Government advice.

See Public Health Wales for up to date health advice.

Preventing eviction

If you are facing eviction, you might be able to take action to change the situation.

Private tenants

Private landlords don’t always need a reason to evict you but they usually have to follow special legal procedures.

Housing association tenants

If you are threatened with eviction by a Housing Association, speak to an adviser immediately. Whatever type of tenancy you have, a Housing Association should only evict its tenants as a last resort.

Council tenants

The procedure the council must follow to evict a tenant depends on the type of tenancy you have. If you are threatened with eviction for any reason, speak to an adviser immediately.

Court action

This section explains what happens if you are renting your home and your landlord applies for a court order to evict you.

Harassment and illegal eviction

Harassment or illegal eviction by a private landlord is a criminal offence. There are many different types of harassment and there are steps you can take to stop it.

Mobile homes

If you rent a mobile home or you own a mobile home, and rent a pitch to station it on, you might have some protection against being evicted.

We are sorry that we cannot provide this information in Welsh, however if you would like to speak to an adviser in Welsh please contact 08000 495 495.

This page was last updated on: August 12, 2020

Shelter Cymru acknowledges the support of Shelter in allowing us to adapt their content. The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.

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