PRESS RELEASE
May 22, 2007

Government backtracks on Home Information Packs in the face of overpowering unpopularity

The introduction of Home Information Packs is to be delayed until August - when they will be brought in only for sales of four-bedroom properties. The packs were due to become compulsory for all home sales from 1 June, however thanks to Conservative party pressure the plans have now been shelved until August at least.

The idea had been that homes put up for sale in England and Wales would have to have a completed pack, costing at least £300, from next month.

But Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly told MPs the packs would now be phased in, starting with sales of large homes. She also said that initially sellers would only have to have commissioned a pack, rather than have a completed one, before marketing their property.

The delay comes after a judge, ruling on a legal challenge from surveyors, said the energy performance certificates should be left out of the packs "for the time being".

Ministers have increasingly used the energy certificates to justify the packs, as criticism mounted that they could cost sellers a lot, but not help buyers.

Malcolm Moss MP said:

 “These plans reek of desperate scrambling on the Government’s part. They cannot accept that they have made a mistake and that their policy has been a failure. They continue to insist that their plans will be carried through.

"The Government's plans for HIPs are now unravelling. There has been a lack of proper consultation on the packs and Ministers must now acknowledge that they have botched this from beginning to end.

"Now is the time to work with us in the interests of the housing market and combating climate change. These packs do nothing but make it more expensive and more difficult for people to put their homes on the market, as well as being less green than they could be.”