Solicitors told to play key role in seller's packs

By Paula Rohan

Solicitors have been urged to take the initiative after the government reintroduced controversial plans to launch a seller's pack that includes a survey.

Launching its draft Housing Bill this week, the government simultaneously issued a consultation on home information packs - as seller's packs are now called - admitting it was the most contentious issue in the proposals.

If they go ahead, the packs will mean that responsibility for making local searches and obtaining a home condition report will transfer from the buyer to the seller.

The proposals suggested that the home condition report should be based on a 'mid-range inspection', less detailed than a full structural survey but more comprehensive than lenders' current valuation inspections.

Sellers would pay an extra 480 per transaction, but the government argued that this would be balanced out because most sellers also buy a new property.

The government has ditched unpopular plans to attach criminal sanctions to breaches of the rules, replacing them with warnings and civil penalty notices of up to 200.

The first effort to introduce seller's packs, the Homes Bill, ran out of Parliamentary time before the last election, and the government has been cautious about bringing the proposals back.

There are widespread concerns that buyers will not be prepared to rely on a seller's survey.

Housing minister Jeff Rooker said the current 'ridiculous' system saw almost one-third of transactions collapse because vital information was unavailable until after the terms had already been agreed.

Law Society president Carolyn Kirby said: 'We support moves to speed up the homebuying process, but the Law Society is concerned that a compulsory home information pack may cause difficulties for people on low incomes.

It could prevent them from moving.

The survey contained in it will soon be out of date, and in any event is unlikely to be accepted by lenders for valuation purposes.

Also, the proposed civil sanctions would be an unnecessary drain on the time and resourcing of civil courts.'

She added that e-conveyancing could make the concept of home information packs redundant.

Simon Thackray, managing partner and conveyancing head at Bromley-based Thackray Wood, predicted that everyone would benefit.

'For the profession, it is an opportunity to take control of the conveyancing transaction from the outset, to be the first port of call for a would-be seller,' he said.

David Parton, conveyancing partner at regional firm Shoosmiths, warned: 'It is important that our profession asserts itself as a key player in the development of home information packs.'