Call for Evidence

The Committee welcomes written evidence on the terms of reference outlined below.

The closing date for submissions is Thursday 18 April.

• How efficient or effective is the existing process for buying and selling homes? How could this be improved?
• How could the consumer experience be improved during the process for buying and selling homes?
• Is the reliance on voluntary initiatives adequate to improve the buying and selling process, or should improvements be made mandatory through legislation?

The Transaction Process:

• What is the impact of issues in the transaction process, such as gazumping or gazundering, and how could they be remedied?
• Would greater use of reservation agreements improve the transaction process?
• What prevents reservation agreements being more widely used? Why has a short, standardised reservation agreement not been developed, as promised by the then Government in 2018? 

Information Provision:

• Do buyers have the right information available at the right time during transactions?
• What effect would it have on the transaction process if sellers were required to provided set information about a property when it was marketed?
• How much data associated with housing transactions still needs to be digitised and how can the digitisation process be accelerated or prioritised?
• What challenges are there to digitisation or providing information at listing?

Conveyancers:

• Do consumers have sufficient information to determine which conveyancer to use? How could information provision on conveyancing be improved?
• What effect would a mandatory professional qualification for estate agents have?
• Should there be a single, legally enforceable Code of Practice for property agents?
• What impact does the practice of referral fees have, and how would a review, standardisation of practice, or ban affect transactions and consumers?

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. 

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.