There are different parts of legislation that give landlords the following:

• The right to receive rent on time
• The right to have the flat or house kept clean
• The right to have tenants respect the rights of neighbours
• The right to have the tenant repair or pay for repair to things they damage
• The right to limit the number of people living in the flat/house
• The right to sell the building

Most private landlords let their property on assured shorthold tenancies which allows them to seek possession of the property after six months or, if a longer fixed term was agreed, at the end of that period, and charge a market rent.

There are other types of tenancies. These include:
Assured tenancies (tenancies which can only be ended on specified grounds set out in the Housing Act 1988)
Long leases (residential leases granted for more than 21 years)
Regulated tenancies (these are being phased out and only a few remain)
Tenancies or licenses where the landlord and tenant(s) live in the same house (such as a lodging arrangement)
Agricultural occupancies (where a farm worker lives in accommodation tied to their job on a farm)
Park home/mobile home arrangements (where the resident owns the home but rents the ground it is sited on)