We're (almost) happy to be first sellers with home pack

Martin and Susan Gander have spent £300 compiling the dossier on the four-bedroom house in Barnes, including an energy efficiency audit that they claim is flawed.

HIPs became compulsory for properties with four or more bedrooms on 1 August. The Government says they offer buyers valuable information before they commit to a purchase.

Critics say they are a waste of money and compiling them will cause delays that will slow down the housing market.

The Ganders, who are selling their home for £895,000, said their HIP inspector's report was completed within a few days.

But they are concerned that even though he was in the house for three and a half hours, his energy assessment is inaccurate.

The inspector, who works for a firm called Simply HIP, gave the house a poor energy rating of E.

Mr Gander, 52, an IT industry analyst, said: "We told him that when we had the loft converted we also had the roof insulated but his report said there was no roof insulation.

"He also said the house was 'partially double-glazed'. Partial can mean anything - in fact, most of our windows are double-glazed but he didn't count them." However, he added: "I don't think any buyer will care much one way or the other. I know if I really liked a house with a low rating I'd buy it anyway."

Mr Gander, who works mostly from home, and his wife, a freelance writer, are moving to Guildford for a quieter life. "We wanted to live in a more rural setting and also reduce our mortgage," he said.

"The place in Guildford is only slightly smaller but with a bigger garden and around £200,000 cheaper."

Having found their new home last month, the couple could have put their existing house on the market quickly or claimed the fourth bedroom was a study in order to avoid having to pay for a home information pack.

But Mr Gander said: "We did not want to rush because we wanted to do the launch properly."

Estate agents Savills are marketing the property and helped the couple with the HIP, including hiring the government-approved assessor and obtaining compulsory documents such as title deeds and local authority searches. Mr Gander said: "Savills are charging us £300, to be paid at some point, I'm not sure when, but it wasn't up-front and it's not a big enough sum to worry about in the overall scheme of things."

Apart from the energy assessment, the couple are happy with the service.

"The whole thing was very efficient," said Mr Gander.

"Simply HIP kept us updated with emails on every bit of the pack. The energy inspection was done on 1 August, the sales statement and title documents were produced on 30 July. The council search was requested on 30 July and received on 6 August, as were the drainage and water search."

The firm was also able to find the planning permission documents for the loft conversion.

Mr Gander said: "I always thought HIPs were a sensible idea and so far nothing has changed my opinion. As a seller, if something nasty had come up, I would still have time to get it sorted before a buyer comes back trying to get the price reduced. As a buyer, I would be very happy to have a HIP. In fact, we would have liked our next home to have a HIP."

Tom Horrocks of Simply HIP said it would be inappropriate to comment on the Ganders' criticism. He said: "There is a robust consumer redress framework for the protection of anyone relying on the energy performance certificate. We would encourage anyone with concerns to take advantage of the complaints procedures."