Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the obligation on (a) sellers, (b) estate agents and (c) solicitors to ensure that property is transferred to buyers in home sales in a clean and tidy state.

The government has published consumer guidance on how to sell a home which sets out that sellers should leave their property in the condition they wish to find their next home.

We know that the overall process of buying and selling a home is far too time consuming and costly for consumers. On 9 February we announced action to help modernise the way our home buying and selling system works. We want to see consumers at the heart of a system that is faster, more certain and less stressful, resulting in significant savings to consumers and industry.