Home Information Packs (HIPs) including home condition reports - Anyone marketing a home will be required to provide key information upfront at the start of selling the property. The packs will come into force from 2007 after a six-month dry-run. The idea behind the introduction of HIPs is to bring together, at the start of the home buying and selling process, important information (such as a home condition report) which, at present, is collected piecemeal in the weeks and months after an offer has been accepted.

Regulation of estate agents - Linked to the use of home information packs estate agents will be compelled to belong to a redress scheme for buyers and sellers.

In light of this, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced that it is urging the Government to put the political process of the Bill behind it and look ahead to the real practical issues of implementation.

Although HIPs will not become universally compulsory throughout England and Wales until at least 2007 (and probably much later in Scotland), there is a huge volume of activity now needed to ensure their successful introduction. As a first step, the CML says that the Government needs to undertake a thorough assessment of what specific implementation costs will be involved, and then ensure that the creation of the new HIP regime is within this cost framework. At present, the cost analysis is hazy at best, but it will be a crucial factor in determining what the market impact of the packs will be. Lenders' recent experience of the implementation of mortgage regulation demonstrates that costs in reality can far exceed early estimates - the cost of implementing mortgage regulation was around double the original cost-benefit estimates.

The costs are crucial in determining what transitional impacts might arise from the introduction of the packs. Another step that the CML urges the Government to take, is to assess the risk of the pack distorting the flow of properties coming onto the market before or during the transition period, and manage it accordingly. A substantial programme of information and education for homebuyers, sellers, estate agents, lenders, conveyancers and valuers will be needed to avoid this.

The CML also issues a reminder that there are many significant areas of work needed to bring the home information pack up to scratch in time for a 2007 implementation. The home condition report needs to be made consumer-friendly (and will need testing); the databank to store the information needs to be specified and built; a large number of home inspectors need to be trained and qualified; their insurance arrangements need to be delivered effectively; and the format of the legal information contained in the pack needs to be made significantly more consumer-friendly. Estate agents, a major delivery channel for the packs, also remain unlicensed - a glaring anomaly in the successful delivery of the Government's strategy in this area.

Michael Coogan, CML Director-General, commented:

"By the time the packs become compulsory, they will have been a decade in the making. Consumers will not thank the Government if they are not user-friendly after such a long gestation period. But there are still a number of gaping holes in the framework that need urgent attention and the full commitment of Government to address.

"Lenders and the CML are committed to ensuring that the packs are as useful as they can be - and help to reduce stress and delays in the conveyancing process. It is now time to work together on the practical issues to ensure that the introduction of the packs does not inadvertently create unhelpful market distortions or load unnecessary costs on consumers.

Sources : RICS & CML (Council of Morgage Lenders - whose members are banks, building societies and other lenders who together undertake around 98% of all residential mortgage lending in the UK. There are 11.5 million mortgages in the UK, with loans worth around £800 billion.)