FOR months there have been dire warnings about the mayhem they will wreak on the housing market.
Opposition MPs have tried - and failed - to halt their introduction.
But, in just 11 days, anyone wanting to sell a home in England and Wales will first have to put together a Home Information Pack.
The aim of the packs, also known as HIPs, is to speed up sales and make them less likely to fall through, by shifting responsibility from the buyer to the seller to provide costly land searches and title deeds.
Also being introduced are energy ratings for homes, in an effort to promote environmentally-friendly buildings.
But many believe the packs merely add another layer of bureaucracy and cost, and don't address the problems of gazumping and sales falling through at the last minute.
Last week the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors launched a legal challenge against them.
The body for property professionals claims there has not been enough consultation over the scheme's introduction.
The outcome - expected to be decided this week in the High Court - could yet delay the arrival of HIPs, although the Government is intent on bringing them in.
Kirstie Allsopp, presenter of TV's Location, Location, Location, warned: "Gazumping, chains and the fact sales fall through simply because people change their minds, will, sadly, still be facts of property life as HIPs come into force.
"The Council of Mortgage Lenders has confirmed that buyers will still face the cost of separate valuation inspectors and that means sales will still fall through because the buyer cannot get a mortgage."
Other problems include claims of a glitch in computer software used to calculate home-energy ratings.
Meanwhile Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has admitted that the 2,000 domestic energy assessors who are supposed to carry out inspections are not ready. Just 1,100 have so far been trained.
But if the packs do go ahead, how will it affect you?
Selling your own home without a pack means you could be fined £200 a day by Trading Standards. It is not, however, a criminal offence but a civil one - and some critics question who will enforce this fine.
There are three ways to get the necessary documents for your HIP.
Firstly, you can do it yourself by getting your own title deeds and local authority searches from your council offices, along with water and drainage searches, for a fee of approximately £225.
To complete your pack, you will also need a "green" Energy Performance Certificate. If you're doing it yourself you will need to employ a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor who will charge about £150 to carry out the 45-minute inspection.
Alternatively, sellers can employ a Home Information Pack provider to do the work. They are likely to cost approximately £500 for a freehold property and up to £1,000 for a leasehold home. Finally, you can hand the entire task to your estate agent, who will add their own charge for an "all-in" service. Some estate agents are including them in the commission fee and others are offering a "no sale, no fee" service. But critics warn "there is no such thing as a free HIP", so look at the small print.
If a home gets a low energy rating, will it really put a buyer off? Probably not. Victorian sash windows may not be energy-efficient but they may be part of the attraction of the property. Even so, the buyer may use a poor report to haggle over the asking price.
A Home Condition Report, which was to have formed part of the pack, is no longer compulsory. This means purchasers still have to pay for a survey on the property. Campaigners against HIPs warn that the market could crash if the project goes ahead.
Nick Salmon, of anti-HIP group Splinta, believes the pack will slow sales down. He said: "You can't start marketing a property until you have a certain number of documents available. So, for people who want to sell quickly, tough.
"The bottleneck will be getting hold of the energy performance certificate."
CASE STUDY
'You don't get a chance to put anything right'
JOHN Grafham, one of the new breed of "green" inspectors, calls out from the loft: "A bit of a problem up here, I'm afraid."
Today's green advice recommends insulation that's 30cm thick - but he finds it's only 3.8cm.
Mr Grafham, 28, a former computer technician, is checking a semi-detached house in Worcester, owned by Paul Ford and his wife Desley.
The asking price is £320,000. Cost of the HIP survey is £450, including £120-£200 for the green inspection which takes 45 minutes. The check includes thermostatic radiator valves, energy-efficient lightbulbs and central heating boiler.
For the Fords, it's a disappointing Grade F. The loft and boiler have let them down.
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Toolmaker Paul, 41, says: "My only complaint is that the inspection is final. You don't have the chance to put right any faults, as you would for a car MoT, before they produce the report."
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
PROPERTIES that go on sale from June 1 must have a HIP, or the seller must be able to prove they are in the process of applying for one.
PROPERTIES already on the market before June 1 will not need a HIP unless they are still for sale after December 31.
THE responsibility for the HIP rests with the person marketing the property.
IF you are selling your home without a HIP you can be fined £200 a day by Trading Standards.
HIPs will cost between £300 and £500 for a freehold property, and up to £1,000 for a leasehold. Shop around.
YOU can save money and compile your own HIP.
IF a property is marketed continuously, the HIP does not have to be updated within a specific time. The buyer decides if it is still valid.
VISIT www.hipag.co.uk; www.hipsdirect.co.uk; www.hipsassured.net; www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk
WHAT'S IN THE PACK?
A SALE statement (summarising the terms of the sale).
EVIDENCE of title (the property deeds).
STANDARD searches (local authority, drainage and water).
AN energy performance certificate (rated from A to G).
COMMONHOLD information (where applicable).
LEASEHOLD information (where applicable).
OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS
A HOME condition report.
GUARANTEES and warranties (from tradesmen on any building work or improvements carried out).
OTHER searches relevant to the area (i.e. mining/ flooding risk).
'COSTLY, OUT OF DATE AND WRONG'
ESTATE agent Nick Salmon, 53, is a director of HIPs Assured, who provide Home Information Packs. Yet he is also head of Splinta - Sellers' Pack Law Is Not The Answer, which campaigns AGAINST the packs. He tells us why:
'IN my experience, the majority of sales that fall through do so because of human nature - people just change their minds.
There is nothing wrong with giving buyers timely and relevant information but the proposed Home Information Pack will not achieve that.
Searches commissioned at the start of the marketing process will be out of date in three months - the average time it takes a seller to find a buyer.
Buyers may have to renew them, wasting time and money.
The pack will not alter the fact that sales are often affected by chains, which move at the speed of the slowest. The only part of the pack which might have been useful - the Home Condition Report, the equivalent of a survey - has been dropped by the Government.
But even that would have had its problems. Sellers could offer a report up to a year old. The Government said that was good enough. No property professional worth their salt believed it.
The Energy Performance Certificate has its limitations, too. Buyers are not going to be put off buying a property just because it doesn't have low-energy light bulbs. They may use the Energy Performance Rating as a stick with which to beat down the price, again hitting sellers in the pocket.
However, the home-buying process does need improving - we need radical reform and proper regulation of estate agents. There should be a rule to bind buyer and seller together at the earliest opportunity in advance of the formal exchange of contracts so it's harder to simply walk away.
Ask yourself why so many in the property market oppose the idea of HIPs if they're so good. The reason is simple - they're not.'
