Home Information Packs delayed to 1 August

As expected, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly announced on Tuesday that the controversial Home Information Packs, which had been scheduled to become compulsory on 1 June, will be delayed until 1 August, when they will begin to be phased in. According to the new plan, they will at first only be required for sales of homes that have four bedrooms or more in England and Wales. In addition, instead of having to be in possession of a completed pack, the seller must only have commissioned the pack before they put their home on the market. Ms. Kelly said that the two-month delay in implementing the packs would allow more time for energy assessors to be trained to issue energy performance certificates that are a required part of the pack. She admitted that only 520 of the at least 2,000 assessors that are needed have so far been trained and accredited.

The delay in implementing the packs came after a judge ruled on a challenge from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), saying that the energy performance certificate component of the packs should be left out for now. RICS had challenged the packs on the basis that there had not been proper consultation before they were mandated. While Ms. Kelly told MPs that the government had reached an agreement with RICS on a “way forward”, a RICS spokesman denied that they had agreed to drop their legal challenge of the packs. The spokesman also questioned how the packs could be required from 1 August, when the agreed three-month consultation period would still be running.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Home Information Packs delayed to 1 August