A cross-party group of MPs has added its voice to long-standing calls for compulsory upfront information in the homebuying and selling process.

In a letter to housing minister Matthew Pennycook, the Commons housing, communities and local government committee says the seller and their representatives should be required to make certain information available when the property goes on the market. The information should be provided by 'suitably authoritative providers' - for instance, by chartered surveyors.

The government recently consulted on the requirement for upfront information, as well as other reforms, to fix the ‘long, complicated and frustrating’ homebuying and selling process. Sellers would be required to provide legal and transactional information such as seller ID verification, standard searches and a property condition assessment.

In its letter, the committee notes that the government’s proposals address some of the issues that would avoid another home information pack disaster, such as real-time data sources like HM Land Registry and free refreshes from search providers. Home information packs (HIPs), which put sellers under a duty to provide standard information to potential buyers when marketing the property, were scrapped in 2010 after they were deemed by the government to be expensive, unnecessary and stifling a fragile housing market.

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The committee said lessons can also be learned from Scotland, where home reports must be no more than three months old when the property goes on sale and include a single survey prepared by a chartered surveyor. Other recommendations include binding conditional contracts and regulation of estate agents.

Committee chair Florence Eshalomi said: ‘The current homebuying and selling process in England and Wales is far more difficult, stressful, and gruelling than it should be. The path to homeownership is littered with delays and collapsed transactions due to gazumping and broken chains. In addition to the personal impact involved in each case, these hurdles only serve to exacerbate the affordability crisis and make getting on the housing ladder more challenging.

‘I hope the housing minister will pay close attention to our recommendations and take the clear action needed to improve the buying and selling process for people across England and Wales.’

Pennycook was asked to respond by 17 July, when parliament adjourns for the summer.