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Home info packs delayed to August Home info packs delayed to August
(about 1 hour later)
The introduction of Home Information Packs is to be delayed until August - when they will be brought in for sales of four-bedroom properties. The introduction of Home Information Packs is to be delayed until 1 August - when they will be brought in for sales of homes with four bedrooms or more.
The packs were due to become compulsory for all home sales from 1 June.The packs were due to become compulsory for all home sales from 1 June.
But Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly told MPs the packs would now be phased in, starting with sales of large homes. But Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly told MPs the packs would 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.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".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. The legal challenge from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) was based on what they said was a lack of proper consultation on the packs.
Ms Kelly said the delay meant the packs would be able to include the energy element, which would help to cut carbon emissions by highlighting areas where energy efficiency in a property could be improved.
The legal challenge from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors was based on what they said was a lack of proper consultation on the packs.
PACKS WILL INCLUDE Evidence of titleCopies of planning, listed building or building regulations consentsA local searchGuarantees for any work on the propertyAn energy performance certificate. Q&A: Home Information PacksPACKS WILL INCLUDE Evidence of titleCopies of planning, listed building or building regulations consentsA local searchGuarantees for any work on the propertyAn energy performance certificate. Q&A: Home Information Packs
There have also been concerns that there are not enough people trained to carry out the environmental checks on properties. Ms Kelly told MPs that RICS and the government had reached "a pragmatic way forward that gives certainty and allows us to get on with implementation".
Ms Kelly confirmed that shortage when she told MPs there were not going to be enough inspectors trained and accredited for the planned 1 June start date. However a spokesman for RICS denied they had agreed to drop the legal challenge and questioned how the packs could be introduced from 1 August, when the 12 week consultation agreed to would still be taking place.
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, with title deeds and an energy performance certificate, from next month. Ministers have increasingly used the energy certificates to justify the packs, saying they would help to persuade people to make their homes more energy efficient and thus cut carbon emissions.
Energy performance certificates would give sellers and would-be buyers information on the property's energy efficiency, as well as tips on how the energy efficiency of the home could be improved. 'Misinformation'
They would also ensure that the UK complies with an EU directive which comes into force in 2009. Ms Kelly said that, in the wake of the legal ruling, it was worth delaying the packs rather than launching them without the energy certificate.
Lords The two-month delay would give more time for energy assessors to be trained, admitting that there were only 520 fully trained and accredited assessors - rather than the 2,000 or more needed.
Shadow housing minister Michael Gove said: "The government's plans for HIPs are unravelling. Ministers must now acknowledge that they have botched this from beginning to end. She blamed the shortage of assessors on uncertainty about packs as a result of "misinformation" from opponents and the legal challenge.
"Now is the time to work with us in the interests of the housing market and combating climate change." There were plenty more assessors currently being trained and the packs would be brought in for smaller properties after August "as rapidly as possible - as sufficient energy assessors become ready to work", she said.
The Lords are also due to debate the packs on Tuesday. A select committee has already urged the government to "seriously" consider the criticism it described as "striking" and "widespread".
HAVE YOUR SAY We have put our house on the market a month early simply to avoid the cost of these packs Laura Berbank, Medway Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY We have put our house on the market a month early simply to avoid the cost of these packs Laura Berbank, Medway Send us your comments
Jeremy Leaf from RICS said last week the packs would 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. Shadow housing minister Michael Gove described the delay as a "desperate last-minute retreat".
"The government's plans for HIPs are unravelling. 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."
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth called the energy performance certificates "a crucial measure that will help householders tackle climate change and cut energy bills".Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth called the energy performance certificates "a crucial measure that will help householders tackle climate change and cut energy bills".
Any delay to HIPs would "inevitably" delay the introduction of energy certificates, a spokesman said.Any delay to HIPs would "inevitably" delay the introduction of energy certificates, a spokesman said.
Liberal Democrat local government spokesman Andrew Stunell said "government incompetence...had botched" the packs' introduction, but his party, like the Conservatives, still support the energy certificates.