Call for Evidence

The Committee is seeking evidence on the following points:

• Do the schemes Shared Ownership and Right to Shared Ownership provide good value for money for the potential users of the scheme?
• How can the Government ensure that Shared Ownership and the Right to Shared Ownership remains an affordable programme in light of rising provider costs and inflation?
• What support can be offered to Shared Ownership tenants given the impact of leasehold properties?
• What impact, if any, are changing sector regulations having on the Shared Ownership and Right to Shared Ownership Scheme?
• Is there a lack of mortgage providers for Shared Ownership properties?
• What challenges are associated with repair costs being covered by those utilising the Shared Ownership schemes?
• How viable is full ownership through the Shared Ownership scheme and/or the Right to Shared Ownership Scheme?
• Does the Right to Shared Ownership policy in its current form reduce homeownership risks for individuals from lower income backgrounds?
• What more can be done to secure the Shared Ownership scheme as an affordable route into home ownership?
• How does the variation of costs from Housing Associations and other providers impact the Shared Ownership Scheme and the experience of tenants or potential buyers?
• What should be done to improve the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ data collection regarding Shared Ownership and the Right to Shared Ownership?
• Are alternative schemes such as ‘Rent to Buy’ viable and do they offer more value for money?
• What more should be done to support first time buyers and those from lower hold incomes onto the property ladder?

Submissions should not be longer than 3000 words where possible.

We want our inquiries to be informed by a diverse range of voices. Our committee team are happy to help if you require a reasonable adjustment, such as an extension to the deadline, or submitting evidence in an alternative format: please get in touch at luhccom@parliament.uk.

Please note: The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee examines policy issues relating to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and its associated bodies. In line with the general practice of select committees the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee is not able to take up individual cases. If you would like political support or advice you may wish to contact your local Member of Parliament.

Written evidence must address the terms of reference as set out above, but please note that submissions do not have to address every point. Guidance on giving evidence to a select committee of the House of Commons is available here.

The Committee will decide whether to accept each submission. If your submission is accepted by the Committee, it will usually be published online. It will then be available permanently for anyone to view. It can’t be changed or removed. If you have included your name or any personal information in your submission, that will normally be published too. Please consider how much personal information you want or need to share. If you include personal information about other people in your submission, the Committee may decide not to publish it. Your contact details will never be published.

Decisions about publishing evidence anonymously, or about accepting but not publishing evidence, are made by the Committee. If you would like to ask the Committee to accept your submission anonymously or confidentially, please indicate this when submitting evidence, and tell us why. This lets the Committee know what you would like but the final decision will be taken by the Committee. Anonymous submissions are typically not published by the Committee.

The Committee has discretion over which submissions it accepts as evidence, and which of those it then publishes on its website. We may anonymise or redact some of your submission if it is published. The Committee may decide to accept evidence on a confidential basis. Confidential submissions remain available to the Committee but are not published or referred to in public. All written evidence will be considered by the Committee, whether or not it is published.