Davey warns against compulsory house packs
The Liberal Democrat’s local government spokesman has backed calls to make home information packs voluntary rather than compulsory.
Home information packs are one of the key new measures in the Housing Bill, which is currently in the Lords.
The packs, a Labour Party manifesto commitment, are designed to simplify the house buying process. Under current proposals sellers will have to produce a basic survey of the property, including information such as a home condition report and an energy efficiency assessment.
However, the Law Society claimed this morning that such packs could be a green light for burglars as they would compel vendors to reveal sensitive information about their property.
Ed Davey said: “The home information pack should be relabelled the crime promotion pack.
“By forcing home owners to get these packs, Ministers are adding to the risks and costs of selling homes.”
The Law Society believes that the packs should be voluntary. Its chief executive, Janet Paraskeva, said: “If Home Information Packs are appealing to consumers, market demand will see them adopted. If the packs are compulsory, homeowners will have no choice but include this additional information at the outset of marketing properties.”
Explaining her concerns, Ms Paraskeva said: “Currently people viewing properties make an offer and their identities are verified by solicitors so sellers can be reasonably confident they are dealing with genuine buyers. Sensitive information about the property is only available to a genuine buyer through solicitors.
“Anyone could walk into an estate agents and discover information about burglar alarms, defective doors, bad windows and the construction of properties. This could be extremely dangerous and could put people at risk. Celebrities like David Beckham would be obvious targets if this becomes law.”
The Law Society represents and regulates solicitors in England and Wales.
The Government believes that the packs will help both buyers and sellers. It cites research showing that almost 30 per cent of transactions fail between offer acceptance and exchange of contracts and that in over 40 per cent of these cases this is to do with problems with survey results.
They believe that many of these problems, and their knock on effects on housing chains, can be solved if buyers are able to access information earlier in the buying process.
