Lords to deal 'savage blow' to controversial home pack plan

There are just nine days before all homeowners must pay about £500 for one of the packs when they put their home up for sale.

But on Tuesday peers are expected to vote in favour of a Tory motion to scrap HIPs, due to be introduced on 1 June.

It would be another sign of the deep-rooted opposition to the packs from MPs, peers, property experts and consumer groups.

A defeat in the House of Lords would be a rare and humiliating event.

Both the Tories and the Lib Dems said on Monday night they will vote to ditch them.

Baroness Hanham, Shadow Minister in the Lords for Local Government, slammed the "infamous" new packs as "a total fiasco."

She said: "I urge the Government to pause for thought and stop. Otherwise they are hurtling down the road towards failure."

The vote will be the third bloody nose for Labour which insists that it is pressing ahead with the introduction despite the widespread revolt.

It is, however, a "non-fatal motion". This means that a victory would severely embarrass the Government, but cannot force them into scrapping plans.

Over the last few weeks, HIPs have come under attack in a bitter debate in the House of Commons and from a damning House of Lords report.

One peer, Lord Jopling, said the Department for Communities and Local Government's strategy was "equivalent to somebody lost on a very foggy night."

Today's debate comes as a research report, published on Monday, showed about half of the country do not even know what HIPs are.

Of 1,000 people interviewed, one in 10 thought a HIP was a sexually transmitted disease, according to property website Fish4Homes.

Other suggestions include a term for a modern-day hippy, a disease which affects the hip bones and a type of hayfever.

Michael Gove, the Tory housing spokesman, said: "This survey adds to the growing evidence that Labour ministers have failed to lay the groundwork for this massive and reckless intervention in the housing market.

"With only days to go until Labour's red tape envelopes the housing market, this public confusion is yet another warning sign.

"Yet the Government is in denial that Home Information Packs are seriously flawed."

On Monday the Liberal Democrats said they will join in the fight against HIPs in the House of Lords.

Baroness Scott, the party's housing spokesman, said the Government had "completely bungled" the introduction of HIPs.

She said: "Instead of waiting on the results of pilot schemes, it is recklessly pressing ahead and expecting the public to pick up the pieces if it all goes wrong."

She raised ongoing fears that there will not be enough professionals to carry out a key part of the pack, the Energy Performance Certificate.

They will give a fridge-style rating to all homes to measure their energy efficiency, and recommend ways for the buyer to cut their energy bills.

Without a certificate, it will be illegal to market a home for sale, a fact which experts fears could lead to a drought of homes coming up for sale.

Last week, the Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said she thinks 2,000 "domestic energy assessors" are needed on 1 June, but said only 1,100 have been accredited, or were having their accreditation processed.

At the weekend, it emerged that different companies may give different ratings on the same property.

One journalist's 18th-century detached house got an 'F' rating from one home, but an 'E' rating - which is slightly better - from a rival company.

It comes as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has launched a judicial review against the Government in a desperate bid to block the plans.

It is the first time in its 139-year history that the institution, which has a Royal Charter to act in the public interest, has taken the momentous step.