New threat to home seller packs as surveyors go to court

New threat to home seller packs as surveyors go to court

Ministers are battling to prevent their controversial home information packs from being derailed at the 11th hour, after a leading property body began court action against the government ahead of a debate in the Commons today.

The move represents the most damaging attack yet on the compulsory homesellers' packs, which are due to become law on June 1. Under the Hips scheme, anyone selling a property will first have to assemble a pack containing detailed information about their house or flat at a cost of several hundred pounds. They are aimed at improving the home-buying process, but critics claim that they are unworkable and will seriously damage the housing market.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said yesterday it was seeking a judicial review into the "failure" of ministers to consult properly prior to implementing the new legislation. The RICS hopes to secure an initial court hearing next week, where a judge would decide whether there are grounds for a full hearing at a later date. Sources at the RICS said that if the judge were to rule there should be a substantive hearing, Hips "could not come in on June 1". The government rejected the challenge as "groundless".

Advertisement starts

---

---

Advertisement ends

The first of two debates at which MPs and peers are to call for the packs to be delayed or scrapped take place today. The Conservatives have called for the regulations to be annulled.

The Conservative housing spokesman, Michael Gove, said the government's handling of the measure had been "shambolic", though he has indicated his party was unlikely to vote against if it meant blocking energy performance certificates (EPCs), now an essential part of the packs.

The Liberal Democrats also criticised the government although they too supported EPCs. The certificates will assess a home's energy efficiency and advise cost-effective measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions and save on fuel bills. Environmental groups back the government. Paul King, WWF's UK campaigns director, said: "EPCs are essential for helping the UK to meet its own emissions targets and will save people money on energy bills."

The RICS said it had not taken the decision to begin judicial proceedings lightly but was "left with no other option". It claims the packs could distort the housing market by prompting sellers to offload their properties before the start date, thus avoiding paying for or waiting for a pack.

Cost estimates vary; some estate agents aim to offer them free, while the RICS puts the cost at £600.

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Hips will go ahead on June 1. This [legal] challenge changes nothing." The communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, branded the Tories and the RICS as "anti-change, anti-consumer, and by putting EPCs at risk, anti-green".

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006