A committee of British parliamentarians on Monday recommended far-reaching reforms to the upper chamber of the British Parliament, suggesting that four-fifths of its members should be elected.

The parliamentary joint committee set up to examine the coalition government's House of Lords Reform Bill also said in a report that the number of members of the House of Lords, whose term would be extended to 15 years from their current five but cannot be repeated, should also be cut down to 450.

The British House of Lords has undergone successive reforms over the past 100 years, which have seen its power diminished, and its membership radically changed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the chamber was entirely made up of male aristocrats, but by the end of the century the aristocrats had largely been removed and its members are mostly political appointees. Leaders in the fields such as arts, science, and business are also appointed.

The House of Commons, the lower chamber of the parliament, is the more powerful body, and the relationship between the two is managed by convention rather than statute, because Britain does not have a written constitution.

The committee report warned that election of 80 percent of the members of a reformed House will make it "more assertive and affect the balance of power between the Houses in favor of the House of Lords."

However, a majority of the committee considered the existing conventions and other pillars on which Commons primacy rests would be enough to protect the power of the House of Commons.

The committee also agreed that conventions governing the relationship between the Houses cannot be legislated for and that such conventions will "evolve further once the House of Lords is reformed."