Agents have only four weeks to respond to a committee of MPs’ ‘call for evidence’ ahead of an investigation into the private rental sector.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities select committee has launched the call ahead of its scrutiny of the government’s recent White Paper, A Fairer Private Rental Sector.

Submissions to the select committee must be in writing, and no more than 3,000 words, filed by August 19.

A statement from the committee says that in particular, it will seeks answers to the following questions:

– Will the Government’s White Paper proposals result in a fairer private rented sector (PRS)?

– What do the proposals in the White Paper and other recent reforms indicate about the role the Government envisages the PRS playing in providing housing nationally?

– Have the Government’s announcements already led to any changes in behaviour in the PRS?

– Do the proposals for reforming tenancies, including the abolition of Section 21, strike the right balance between protecting tenants from unfair eviction and allowing landlords to take possession of their properties in reasonable circumstances?

– How easily will tenants be able to challenge unfair rent increases under the proposals?

– Does the PRS need its own ombudsman? If so, what powers should it have?

– Will the proposals result in more disputes ending up in the courts? If so, will the proposals for speeding up the courts service suffice?

– What impact, if any, will the reforms have on the supply of students homes in the general PRS?

– What impact, if any, will the reforms have on the supply of homes in the PRS?

– What should be included in the new decent homes standard and how easily could it be enforced?

– How enforceable are the proposals to make it illegal for landlords to have blanket bans on letting to people on benefits or with children? What other groups, if any, should be protected from blanket bans?

– Overall, what additional pressures will the proposals place on local councils, and how many of these will require new burdens funding?

Submissions should go to [email protected] and you can see more details here.