Backbench Business Committee
10 November 2026
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Backbench Business Committee House of Commons
Follow its sittings00:03 - 00:31
Speaker 6
Order. Welcome to the meeting of the Backbench Business Committee where we will be considering applications from colleagues for debates in the Chamber and in Westminster Hall on a Tuesday and Thursday. The first application is from Marie Goldman, and this is for an application for a debate on protection for homeowners targeted by Asset Invest. And this is a request for a Tuesday Westminster Hall slot. Marie, please present your case.
00:31 - 01:42
Speaker 3
Thank you very much, Chair. I really appreciate the opportunity to apply for this. So since the beginning of the year, my team have been contacted in my Chelmsford constituency by a number of residents who've been targeted by a company called Asset Invest, who have bought up the restrictive covenants from their title deeds to the properties and it affects a lot of properties in my constituency, and they are trying to extort, in some cases, tens of thousands of pounds from my constituents. And I have examples of some residents who've actually paid over £20,000 because they this company targets residents, in particular, at a time when they see that the property might be up for sale on Rightmove. So this might be because the homeowner themselves wants to move.
Sometimes it's in the middle of probate as well. And so, at the risk of losing the sale, they feel compelled to hand over this money. But it is having a really distressing impact on my constituents as well. And unfortunately, people are Although we've tried to raise awareness in my constituency, it is obviously very difficult to get the word out, and people only come across this when they are about to sell their property. So they're using pressure-selling tactics.
01:42 - 02:05
Speaker 5
I held a town hall meeting with constituents. I've been to several town hall meetings, actually. They've been attended by over at least 200 constituents have come along to this, as this affects a large number of people. But it's not just in my Chelmsford constituency, and I'm here with the honourable member for Bexhill and Battle. We're working cross-party on this issue because it affects people in his constituency as well, as hopefully he will explain in a minute as well, but right the way across the country.
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