The government’s inquiry into the affordability of home ownership will continue hearing oral evidence today, with contributions from the Conveyancing Association’s Beth Rudolf, PEXA UK CEO Joe Pepper, and Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark.
The Portcullis House meeting will be streamed live, with Rudolf – speaking in her capacity as co-chair of the Home Buying and Selling Council – giving evidence from 10am. “If I get the chance, I will be highlighting the impact of unreasonable fees in leasehold and how difficult it is for great agents to comply with the law when those that don’t compete by saying that the seller can save money by instructing them,” Rudolf said.
“This hopefully will lead to a discussion around the regulation of property agents and property managers to create a level playing field.”
“From my point of view it’s fairly broad,” Douglas said of the inquiry’s remit.
“There seems to be a focus on challenges for first time buyers and those on lower incomes getting on the housing ladder and staying on it. From my understanding, there will be a focus on what works and what doesn’t work in terms of what the challenges are for people getting on the housing ladder and a focus on government interventions.
“We’ll be looking to highlight the challenges we know exist from estate agents, including the importance of material information and making sure we get the right information. We received a lot of feedback from roundtables we held with buyers who said they don’t want to be bombarded with huge lists of questions, so we’re taking that into account.
“More broadly, we’ve been a strong advocate for removing or reducing stamp duty and lowering rates across the board – ultimately linking stamp duty bands to a change in property values and possibly wage growth. There’s also a knowledge gap in terms of the support that is already available; there are quite a lot of products out there from the government but agents and consumers need to understand them, so there’s probably a bit more to do in that space.”
A second session will hear evidence from David O’Leary, executive director at the Home Builders Federation, Steve Collins, chief executive at Rentplus-UK, and Paul Rickard, chief executive of Pocket Living.
The inquiry was launched in July last year to examine the barriers faced by first-time buyers. The cross-party committee is exploring how the government supports first-time buyers and how interventions such as financial products and government policies can help aspiring home buyers get onto the housing ladder.
Speaking at the launch, Florence Eshalomi, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee said:
“Decades of failure to build anything like the homes we need means that far too many people stand no chance of making the first step on the housing ladder. If you don’t own your own home, and can’t turn to your family for help, how can you be expected to save up for a mortgage when more and more of your income is going on rent?”
Written submissions to the inquiry were published in October last year, with contributions from organisations including the Home Builders Federation, Propertymark, PEXA, and the Chartered Institute of Housing.
The submissions include comments on the existing routes to affordable home ownership delivered by the Affordable Homes Programme, including shared ownership, and how far these provide genuinely affordable routes to owning homes.
“Ultimately, it’s crucial that more homes are built, and that the government delivers on its 1.5 million new homes target in this parliament,” Eshalomi said.
“But, when the prospect of owning a home is so slim for too many people, it is important that we examine the routes to affordable home ownership and how the government could help foster better support for first time buyers.”
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The evidence submitted to the Affordability of Home Ownership inquiry exposes a familiar pattern: policymakers continue to search for market‑based explanations for problems that are, in large part, the product of legislative and regulatory choices. While governments do not build homes, they do shape the environment in which homes are built, financed, and transferred—and it is within that environment that many affordability pressures originate.
The Building Safety Act 2022 remains a clear example. Its drafting has created operational uncertainty, significant cost exposure, and delays that fall disproportionately on the lower‑value accommodation relied upon by first‑time buyers. The same is true of the Stamp Duty Land Tax regime, now one of the most complex and distortionary transaction taxes in the UK. These are structural burdens created by statute, not by conveyancers or consumers.
The construction sector faces similar cumulative pressures. Environmental levies and compliance obligations—each introduced in isolation—have collectively increased build costs and reduced scheme viability. The result is fewer deliverable units and diminished supply at the very price points the inquiry is concerned with.
Against this backdrop, suggestions that the solution lies in shifting conveyancing oversight towards law‑tech platforms risk compounding the problem. Independent legal advice is one of the few consumer protections that remains robust and genuinely accessible. Diluting that protection in favour of automated process management would expose first‑time buyers to greater risk at the point of their largest financial commitment.
If the inquiry is to produce meaningful recommendations, it must recognise the extent to which affordability challenges stem from legislative complexity, regulatory layering, and policy inconsistency. A coherent, proportionate framework—supported by independent professional scrutiny—remains essential to restoring confidence, improving market function, and ensuring that home ownership is both accessible and genuinely secure.
why dont we renovate at least some of the current derelict stock 750000 houses……