With Home Condition Reports buyers will get a much clearer idea of what they are buying and how much it costs to run, with energy efficiency graded from A to E.

On June 1, 2007, it will become illegal to offer any home for sale without a Home Information Pack (HIP), including a Home Condition Report (HCR), available to all buyers before they make an offer.

Some fear the Government’s tight timetable for change could hit the housing market, slashing the amount of properties for sale.

But not Mike Ockenden, Director General of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP), which includes chartered surveyors among more than 20 pack providers. He dismisses fears of either “a feast or famine of houses on the market”.

“There may be a small flurry of sellers putting their homes on the market before the compulsory introduction of HIPs,” he says, “But what about the buyers?

“Buyers are not so stupid as to accept a house for sale without a HCR, which will be free to them and is of considerable benefit to a purchaser.”

AHIPP, formed last autumn, has a £600,000 annual budget and two staff: Ockenden, and his deputy Paul Broadhead, based at Building Societies’ Association (BSA) headquarters in London’s Savile Row.

Both are promoting the new system for buying and selling houses, backed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), which is headed by John Prescott.

HIPs, including title deeds, council searches and legal documents, warranties and guarantees, and an Energy Performance Certificate within the HCR compiled by a home inspector, are intended to hasten the exchange of contracts, thereby saving buyers millions of pounds currently lost on abortive purchases.

By making vendors pay for Home Condition Reports (HCRs), a key point of the reform is that more costs of selling will hit vendors, rather than buyers. HIPs could cost owners between £600 and £1,000 each, plus VAT, and possibly more for larger homes.

Purchasers, however, will still have to pay for mortgage valuations, because lenders won’t accept HIPs as adequate security for a loan.

Suppose D-Day dawns on June 1, 2007 with a shortage of HIs?

Mr Ockenden says homeowners with properties already on sale will not have to get an HIP that day. There will be a cut-off date later, when it will become an offence to have a home on sale without an HIP.

“I believe we will have 3,000 inspectors ready on day one,” he says. “As major corporate agencies ensure their chartered surveyors are prepared for the new system.”

Why can’t HIPS be an optional extra for vendors to offer as a selling point, and introduced gradually?

Mr Ockenden says: “My members will pay something in excess of £100m for this new system. If it was optional, that investment wouldn’t be justified.”

Who really benefits from all the extra paperwork of HIPs?

“First-time buyers, who need all the help they can get, will be better off in three ways,” says Mr Ockenden.

“The costs of their purchase will go down, as legal and local council costs are lower for them.

“Secondly, they will almost certainly know more than they do now about what they are buying.

“With HCRs, buyers will get a much clearer idea of what they are buying, and how much it costs to run, with energy efficiency graded from A to E. Thirdly, buyers will benefit from lower stress levels, by securing property at an earlier date.

“We have seen first-time buyers spending £1,400 pursuing three properties when all three fall through,” he says.

However, Mr Ockenden accepts HIs could be sued for compensation by three groups – vendors, purchasers and lenders - if things go wrong after their report, so they will need extensive insurance cover.