Countdown to chaos over the home seller packs nobody wants

Surveyors and estate agents expect some sellers to resort to trickery to avoid buying a pack and believe others will be in for an unpleasant surprise because they have failed to keep pace with the rapidly-changing laws.

From Wednesday - August 1 - anyone wishing to sell a house with four or more bedrooms must provide buyers with a pack of information likely to cost £500.

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It must include a certificate rating the property for energy efficiency and information ranging from title deeds to local searches. Reports on the condition of a home will be optional following a climbdown by ministers last year.

However, there was still so much concern over HIPs that in May the then Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly decided that, for now, the packs would only be needed for larger homes. It has not yet been decided when other houses will be affected.

Peter Bolton King, of the National Association of Estate Agents, has warned: "Most of the public have not the faintest idea what is going on.

"People have heard the Government have backed down and delayed, and many think the whole thing has been cancelled. The result is likely to be chaos."

He added: "We are also likely to see a number of houses marketed as three bedrooms and a study. People may be dicing with the law when they do this, but it is going to happen."

Meanwhile, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyers warned of another loophole. Because of the risk that a shortage of home inspectors would slow down the process, ministers are allowing sellers to market their homes as long as they can show they have ordered a HIP.

Staff at RICS said sellers would be able to find a buyer and take the property off the market before the HIP could be produced, so they would never need to pay for it.

Spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "Our members have been pressing for clarification on the new regulations, for fear of breaking the law. We have been forced to tell them that to the best of our knowledge, selling a house without an HIP would not be illegal during the interim period."

However, a spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said sellers must agree to pay for a HIP when they order one.

He added: "Anybody who tries to sell without having an information pack faces repeated £200 fines. Estate agents who collude in cheating can be fined and ultimately put out of business."

Yesterday there was more controversy over the packs as Labour leaders were accused of cashing in on their own laws.

The party has launched a Labour Legal Services scheme to sell conveyancing and advice through a firm of solicitors and will take a slice of the profits.

Among items on offer to members and supporters are Home Information Packs.

Tory housing spokesman Grant Shapps said: "Consumers and housing experts have called for ministers to scrap this discredited and shambolic scheme. The refusal of the Government to listen raises questions about their motivations."