Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs were last week accused of backing conveyancers against the interests of the public through their opposition to home information packs (HIPs).

Winding up the second reading of the Housing Bill, Yvette Cooper, a junior minister in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said the opposition parties 'back vested interests that want to continue the exploitation of ordinary people'.

She criticised the opposition for being 'on the side' of the Law Society - which opposes HIPs - rather than the Consumers Association, which supports them.

David Curry, the Conservatives' shadow secretary of state for local and devolved government affairs, said HIPs are 'a bad answer in search of a problem'.

He said transactions failed for a multitude of other reasons, not 'technical problems with transparency in the process or deficiency in the data'.

Liberal Democrat shadow Edward Davey said HIPs are the main reason his party will vote against the Bill.

He said there could be a repeat of the pensions mis-selling because of the risk posed by home condition reports prepared by poorly trained inspectors whose work the insurance industry would be unhappy about indemnifying.

The government has said HIPs will not be introduced until the estimated 5-8,000 new home inspectors needed to produce the reports are recruited and trained.

Housing minister Keith Hill said HIPs would make home buying and selling 'easier, more transparent and more successful'.

The Law Society says they would achieve the opposite.