Guide · Housing · 3 min read
Unpaid rent: what a landlord can and cannot do
How a landlord recovers unpaid rent through the court, what cannot be seized, and what a lodger or under-tenant can do.
In plain English · by bruneilaws · not legal advice· Law as at 30 Sep 2026
On this page · 5 parts
The short answer
A landlord may seize a tenant's goods for unpaid rent only in the way the Distress Act provides.
Under that Act, the landlord applies to a judge or registrar for an order to issue a writ of distress.
The writ is addressed to the sheriff and directs the sheriff to seize movable property found on the premises.
Only through the court
A landlord, or an agent they authorise in writing, can apply to a judge or registrar, without notice to the tenant, for an order to issue a writ of distress. The writ can recover rent for no more than the 12 completed months of the tenancy immediately before the application.
Rent owed can still be recovered this way after the tenancy ends, if the tenant is still in occupation of the premises or any of the tenant's goods are still on them.
The sheriff seizes the movable property on the premises, or as much of it as the sheriff judges enough to cover, when sold, the rent due, the landlord's costs and the sheriff's fees and expenses. Before the writ is issued, the court may require the landlord to pay into court the sum it considers necessary to cover the sheriff's fees and expenses.
The Act applies to rent owed to the Government, but not to rent the Government owes.
What cannot be seized
Some things cannot be taken under a writ of distress, including:
- Things in actual use in the hands of a person at the time of the seizure
- Tools and implements not in use, if there is other movable property on the premises that covers the amount and costs
- The tenant's necessary clothing, and necessary bedding for the tenant and their family
- Goods the tenant holds to carry, work on or deal with in the course of their ordinary trade or business
- Goods belonging to guests at a hotel
After a seizure
The sheriff lists and values what was seized, and gives the tenant a notice of the seizure with a copy of that list. The goods can be sold at the time and place in the notice, not less than 6 days after it, unless the tenant pays the amount due within 5 days or gets an order stopping the sale.
If the tenant is not on the premises, the notice can be given to anyone who appears to be in occupation, or, if there is no such person, posted in a conspicuous place on the premises.
If you rent from a tenant
If you are an under-tenant or a lodger, and your belongings are seized under a writ of distress for rent your landlord owes to a superior landlord, you can apply to a judge to discharge or suspend the writ, or to release a seized item.
The judge can make an order only if you show that the tenant has no right of property or beneficial interest in the goods, and that they are your property or in your lawful possession. You must also pay the landlord, or pay into court, an amount equal to the arrears of rent the distress was levied for, and undertake to pay the landlord any future rent you owe to the tenant.
A lodger, or an under-tenant paying at least 75 per cent of the full monthly letting value of what they rent, never has to pay the landlord or the court more under this rule than the rent they owe their own landlord.
Read your tenancy agreement for what it says about the deposit, repairs and ending the lease early.
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