Landlords could be left with little recourse to reclaim their property from difficult tenants if a campaign to end certain legal powers is successful.

Generation Rent, a lobbying organisation, has called on the government to scrap section 21 orders, a two-month eviction notice that a landlord can serve without reason. It said these are often misused to throw renters out unfairly.

But the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), a trade body, said landlords need section 21 orders and that the only alternative is "not fit for purpose".

David Smith, of the RLA, said most section 21 notices are used properly in cases such as tenants not paying rent, being anti-social or where the landlord needs to sell the house.

He said: "Landlords don't just use section 21 willy-nilly because they're evil people. There has never been any substantial evidence that retaliatory evictions are a large problem."