Controversial Home Information Packs aimed at speeding up the process of buying and selling houses are due to come into force this week. The launch of the packs follows a two-month delay and a watering down of their content. intended to end the 30% of sales that fell through each year, leading to around £350m being wasted in fees. This is equivalent to 500,000 transactions. When plans for legislation to bring in the packs were included in the Queen’s Speech in 2003, the Government said they would “help create a fairer housing market and protect the most vulnerable”. It was envisaged that the packs would include everything a buyer needed to know about the property before they made an offer. This included the title deeds, local authority searches and a survey, which became known as a Home Condition Report. The Government argued that having the information up front would not only speed up the buying process but would also help end practices such as guzumping. However, the idea of Home Information Packs was met with scepticism from both members of the public and the industry. Pressure groups argued that consumers would not trust a survey commissioned by the person selling the property. Others expressed concern that people would face an upfront cost, at that time estimated to be as high as £1,000, before they had even put their property on the market. Due to political opposition, the packs being launched are a far cry from what the Government originally envisaged. In May, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly announced a two-month delay in their introduction and said they would initially apply only to properties with four or more bedrooms.

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