Latest on home condition reports
Latest on home condition reports
Keywords: Homes, Condition reports
Home information packs should not be made compulsory, the committee of MPs set up to scrutinise the government’s draft housing bill has concluded. The select committee of the ODPM welcomes the government’s proposal to introduce the packs but says they should only be introduced nation-wide when they have been pilot tested more widely. It says this would enable the pack’s impact on different types of market to better assessed. The report says that packs should only be updated when a serious buyer has been found for a property.
Regarding worries that the pack’s introduction could undermine housing markets in low value areas, the committee says that properties worth less than£30,000 should be exempt from having to produce one rather than introducing geographical designations. It says the £30,000 threshold should be reviewed after two years. The committee also recommends that because they have an important role to play in implementing the pack, estate agents should be licensed.
