The Police

[Bloo Loo]

Maybe, but I don't see how changing the locks is an illegal eviction. If I were a responsible landlord and found one of my tenants rooms kicked in, but no evidence of a burglary, I might be tempted to change the locks. That doesn't mean I wouldn't let the tenant back in immediately if he asked me to...

Hang on...what if one of the OP dad's other tenants is a single woman, who might have invited a bloke back at some point or other? That bloke would have 'been seen round the house' but if the woman subsequently broke up with him for any reason that absolutely wouldn't give him the right to turn up and kick her locked door down?!

Squatting, or breaking and entering, surely?

Look, I know we're emphatically 'anti-rentier' on here, but I've rented a couple of places in London in my time with absolutely no bother and reasonable terms from the landlord (had a bit of grief with the letting agent of my last place when I moved out, but resolved it, and couldn't blame it on the landlord in any case). My best mate is still renting a really nice flat which- since we know what the landlord paid, what the mortgage is, and what the service charges are- the landlord must be losing money on, but he's had a £50 rent increase over 4 years, and absolutely no bother. Before he rented his own flat he stayed in a room in a rented house which was, TBH, a bit of a shithole by most people's standards- but it was less than £300 a month, and since he was earning £2K+ a month by that point, he got his debts paid off and sorted himself out from a starting position of chronic alcoholism and serious debt. I was accidental in finding him that room as it happens- I hooked up with a girl in the pub we regularly got wasted in, she lived there, and her landlord had a room going. He was there 2 years- not great fun for him, but an education.

The point is this: OP's dad is running an apparently decent HMO, which some cheeky arsehole is completely abusing. If he can't go to the police about it, who can he go to?

this is nothing to do with anti rentier.

Its also not about "What if the tenant was a woman"...or changing the locks on an absent tenant subsequently burgled.

if the circumstances were different, the Police response would, or should, have been different too.

Landlord tenant disputes are generally not criminal in nature, so its not down to the cop shop, its down to the Court to issue suit.

[Dorkins]

Landlord tenant disputes are generally not criminal in nature, so its not down to the cop shop, its down to the Court to issue suit.

Ironically, as illegal eviction is a criminal offence plod could have shown up to arrest the landlord.

[Bloo Loo]

Ironically, as illegal eviction is a criminal offence plod could have shown up to arrest the landlord.

LOL...so you are suggesting plod could have cautioned the whistleblower......makes sense.

[Rave]

I was very drunk last night, so apologies for the large amount of irrelevant crap in my last post, and for my combative tone (?) . However, I'm still not having this .

this is nothing to do with anti rentier.

Its also not about "What if the tenant was a woman"...or changing the locks on an absent tenant subsequently burgled.

if the circumstances were different, the Police response would, or should, have been different too.

Landlord tenant disputes are generally not criminal in nature, so its not down to the cop shop, its down to the Court to issue suit.

From: http://www.rentfair.com/blog/when-does-a-tenants-guest-become-a-tenant/

One thing is clear: the guest can not acquire legal rights as a tenant unless the landlord treats him as such (eg by accepting rent payments from him direct).

...so this guest has no legal right to enforce the actual tenant's right of access. As far as I'm concerned if he has kicked the door down he has commited, at the very least, criminal damage, and arguably breaking and entering (or squatting which is illegal now I believe?).

I will concede that the OP's dad's legal position would be far stronger if he had obtained an eviction notice from court. But debatably if the original tenant hasn't been seen for some time then he has abandoned the tenancy, albeit that the following link makes clear that that's a shaky position legally:

http://www.propertyhawk.co.uk/index.php?page=magazine&id=152

Reading around the subject, it's depressing to see how many ways there are for unscrupulous people on both sides of the tenant/landlord divide to abuse the current laws TBH . Time for a rebalancing of the law IMO.