Trading standards officers claim that they have insufficient cash and manpower to police the introduction of the controversial home information packs (Hips) due to be introduced on June 1.

The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) also insists that the £200 penalty for homeowners who market a property without a pack is too low and that estate agents may risk a fine rather than pay the £500 to £600 cost of a pack.

Even though the officers have a duty to police the law, most councils will be unable to chase offenders through the civil courts for nonpayment of fines because this action is expensive and slow.

The enforcement authorities also gave warning that the move was certain to lead to chaos and confusion for householders wishing to sell their properties.

This last-ditch intervention shows the scale of opposition to the rushed implementation of the packs. Which?, the consumer organisation, is also pressing for the packs to be delayed for a year until pilot schemes have been fully evaluated.

Under the new scheme, which is intended to speed up house sales and help first-time buyers, anyone wishing to sell their home must provide a pack with details of home searches, title deeds and an energy performance certificate.

Ron Gainsford, the chief executive of TSI, said: “We anticipate that such is the level of consumer and business unreadiness that the demand for trading standards advice will outstrip capacity to deliver.”

He added: “We are also disappointed that the Government did not accept our request for a higher penalty for breaches of the regulations.”

The TSI believes that a fine should be in the region of £500 and breaches should be a criminal offence. The Government, however, decided that penalties should be a civil matter handled by fixed penalty notice.

But The Timeshas learnt that less than two weeks before Hips become law, local authorities have yet to agree the wording of the penalty notices.

There is also concern that the scheme will be introduced piecemeal around the country. For even though local authorities have been given some extra resources by central Government this cash has not been specifically marked for the policing of Hips.

Mr Gainsford said that policing of Hips would depend on competing priorities for each council, but he reiterated that resources for trading standards were scarce.

The stance by the TSI is backed by the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services, which has campaigned for penalties against homeowners. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is also hoping that an application for a judicial review over a lack of government consultation may delay the scheme.

A government spokesman, however, denied that cash shortages should impede the policing of Hips and said that extra funds had been allocated to enforce the scheme through the local government settlement.

He added that trading standards officers also had the power to report any estate agent failing to pay a fixed penalty to the Office of Fair Trading.

Hip content

— £1 million a day is wasted on failed sales – Hips will reduce this. Prices vary from £200 to £1,000

Hips must include

— Energy performance certificate

— Sale statement

— Standard searches

— Provision of drainage and water services

— Evidence of title

— Home condition report

— Legal summary

—Home use/contents

— Nonstandard searches

— Guarantees, warranties for work carried out

— Hips do not apply to Scotland

Source:www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk

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