The short answer to this question is that under most circumstances they can, including when they want to sell the property.

This country has some of the loosest eviction legislation in Europe because, it is argued, our laws attempt to balance the needs of tenants with those of landlords.

In Germany – for example – it's loaded in the tenant's favour; tenancy length is almost indefinite and landlords can only evict a tenant under a handful of circumstances. Also, rent rises are regulated, unlike in the UK.

The average length of tenancy in Germany is 11 years, compared to 2.5 years in the UK. On the other hand, more people rent in Germany – home ownership is less common (approximately 10% less than in the UK).

Some progress has been made on rebalancing the system in favour of tenants. For example, all fees charged by landlords or letting agents are now banned including contract renewal, inventory and referencing fees, leaving landlords only able to charge rent, a deposit (of up to five weeks) and a holding deposit (of no more than a week’s rent).

Evictions

But the process of eviction remains unreformed. Landlords can, after (usually) six months, end a tenancy without giving any reason, although they must give at least two months’ notice. Most landlords doing this either want to move back in to the property themselves, or sell up.

Called Section 21 notices (within the 1988 Housing Act), tenant rights groups such as Generation Rent and Shelter argue that these notices offer landlords all of the benefits of being able to remove a tenant, but leave tenant feeling insecure.

Look on social media and you’ll see why; some tenants are served Section 21 ‘no fault’ notices even though they’ve been in their new home for less than a year. And understandably they get upset about it.

Three month tenancies

The government recently revealed plans to introduce guaranteed three-year tenancies. The announcement was made in July last year but so far very little has materialised, and it could take another 18 months to get the legislation through parliament.

Cabinet in-fighting about the details of the proposal also mean it is likely to be ‘voluntary’ rather than ‘compulsory.

Landlord organisations argue that the private rental sector needs to be flexible to encourage investment in new stock, and that loading the eviction process in favour of the tenant would stop the unscrupulous landlords but hammer the law-abiding ones.

Section 21

During a recent debate in the House of Commons on Section 21 evictions, Conservative MP Alex Chalk backed landlords, saying: “In the overwhelming majority of cases, landlords behave appropriately and with a proper sense of their responsibility to their fellow citizens.”

But research points to more vulnerable tenants, particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, being forced to move home more frequently.

Generation Rent says Section 21 evictions are "why there is so much bad practice and shoddy conditions in the private rented sector. If a tenant makes a fuss, they're out. It's the No.1 cause of homelessness."

The government says it has remedied this problem. In 2015 the law was changed to prevent a landlord evicting a tenant via a Section 21 notice if the tenant has either complained about their property in writing to their landlord or letting agent; reported them to the local council; or an improvement or emergency work notice has been served on the landlord by the council.

Read our comprehensive guide to revenge evictions.

Or read our ultimate guide to renting

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If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.

CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.