Has Labour just killed off this popular way for pensioners to boost retirement income?

Landlords have been hit by repeated Treasury tax raids, while rising mortgage rates and stagnating property prices have eroded returns. They have been selling up in droves, tired of being scapegoated for housing shortages and the failings of a small minority of rogue landlords.

Many were concerned by the Conservative Party’s Renters Reform Bill, but this fell by the wayside when former PM Rishi Sunak called a snap election.

Now it’s back in a more aggressive form in the shape of Labour’s Renter’s Rights Bill. This will make it even harder to get rid of tenants who don't pay the rent by scrapping controversial Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

It will also give tenants new powers to challenge “unreasonable” rent increases, in a move that will be welcomed by tenants struggling to keep up with rising rental costs.

Keir Starmer has also pledged to ban rent "bidding wars", banning landlords from pushing tenants to offer higher rents to secure a property.

Just one in 10 landlords voted Labour in the recent election, with many viewing the party as “anti-landlord”, according to research by Landbay.

What was once seen as a great way for ordinary people to top up their pension income now seems a lot more trouble than it's worth. So is there still life in buy-to-let?

Over the last few years, landlords have lost higher rate tax relief on mortgage interest, seen “wear and tear” allowances reduced, and been forced to pay a three percent surcharge on property purchases, squeezing margins.

Almost a third of landlords plan to reduce their rental portfolios and only nine percent say they likely to invest more, a National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) survey found.

This is backfiring on tenants as the number of rental properties shrinks, too. More than 2,000 households a month face homelessness in England every month because private landlords are giving up, official figures show.

Anna Clare Harper, chief executive of sustainable investment adviser GreenResi, said regulations intended to help tenants have a tendency to backfire. “Ending no-fault evictions is intended to protect the right of tenants. In practice, landlords who fear they won’t be able to access their property are evicting them while they can.”

Richard Rowntree, managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank, said the majority of landlords have accepted that Section 21 will be going, but the new version of the Renters Reform Bill must ensure landlords have “robust grounds” to gain possession of a property if required.

He said: “They should also expect a functioning and resourced justice system to cope with the increased number of cases that will be heard by a court.”

Labour needs to balance the needs of both landlords and tenants, Rowntree added. "This could provide the clarity and certainty landlords require to invest in the sector."

But he warned: “If Labour gets it wrong, we could be faced with a clogged-up court system and landlords out of pocket if they need to evict a tenant.”

Landlords should not be too gloomy, said Emma Cox, managing director of real estate at Shawbrook Bank. “Despite the uncertainty, property prices are expected to continue rising, and rental yields remain strong.”

Landbay sales and distribution director Rob Stanton said a new government always brings uncertainty. “Landlords should remember that the buy-to-let market has survived countless crises, regime changes and new governments. It has continued to thrive and lenders are ready and willing to provide mortgages.”

Buy-to-let isn’t dead but landlords must do their sums and choose tenants even more diligently. Reform was coming whoever won the election. But if Labour squeezes landlords too hard, tenants will also feel their pain.