Property experts gave warning yesterday that the Government’s “hasty” decision to extend home information packs (Hips) to three-bedroom properties next month may lead to a slump in the market.

Ministers announced that Hips and energy performance certificates (EPCs) would be mandatory for all houses put up for sale with three bedrooms or more – covering half the market – from September 10. No decision has been made about when they will be phased in for smaller homes.

Baroness Andrews, the Communities Minister, said: “Hips and EPCs can help families to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills and cut a million tonnes of carbon a year. They also have the potential to reduce the millions of pounds wasted by consumers when buying and selling a home.”

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that since the packs were introduced for four-bedroom homes on August 1, the number of those houses put on the market had dropped dramatically. Jeremy Leaf, a spokesman, said: “We find it hard to believe that the Government is pressing ahead with this policy at such short notice without first conducting a proper market-impact study. Preliminary reports suggest a substantial reduction in the number of fourbed properties coming on to the market.”

From September 10 all homeowners will have to commission a Hip, giving details of land searches and title deeds, when they put their home on the market. In addition they will have to produce an energy performance certificate, which will rate their home on energy efficiency. The combined pack is expected to cost between £200 and £400 a property, although some estate agents are providing it free.

Initially the packs were to include a home-condition report, but this element was dropped last year, partly because of the extra cost. Later Yvette Cooper, the Housing Minister, was forced to delay the introduction of the packs for two months and then to bring in the policy in phases, because of a shortage of home inspectors.

Grant Shapps, the Shadow Housing Minister, said: “The announcement that this pointless red tape is going to be imposed on three-bedroom homes from September means many more people will now face extra cost and bureaucracy when they buy or sell their homes.”

Representatives of the housing industry suspected that the Government had bowed to pressure from Hip providers, who were training thousands of home inspectors and energy assessors. Although fewer than a thousand were trained before this month, this figure has increased to nearly 3,000. Home inspector firms had been

threatening to sue the Government if it scrapped the policy.

The Association of Hip Providers has been pressing ministers to announce a September launch for three-bedroom homes and an October start for the remaining properties. Mike Ockenden, its director-general, said: “We are delighted that the decision has been made so soon after the introduction of four-bedroom homes on August 1. With some 3,500 assessors now accredited and ready to go, I would expect this to be extended to all homes very soon.

“I would now strongly urge the Government to extend the implementation to the rest of the housing stock, so that Hips can really start to do the job they have been brought in to do.”

Warren Bright, chief executive of propertyfinder.com, said that the new rules would drag half of all houses, about 55,000 transactions a month, into the Hips net. “There is no concrete data to suggest that the initial rollout was a success. In fact, most estate agents remain unconvinced that Hips are at all effective in smoothing the transaction process,” he said.

Made to measure

- All three-bedroom homes on the market from September 10 will need a home information pack, containing title deeds, land searches and an energy performance certificate (EPC)

- EPCs, which cost about £100, rate the energy efficiency of a home on the scale AG, with band A having the lowest fuel bills. They also rate on a scale of AG the home’s impact on the environment by measuring CO2 emissions

- Each rating is based on the performance of the building and fittings such as heating, lighting, insulation and double glazing. The certificate also takes into account the age, location, size and condition of the home

- The average British home is in bands DE

- The certificates are commissioned by the seller from an accredited energy assessor Source: Department of Communities and Local Government

Source: Department of Communities and Local Government

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