Packs go – but what will happen now?

They were the Government's big idea for speeding up the nightmare process of buying and selling your home.

Home Information Packs or Hips for short were intended to give home buyers all the information they needed.

Paid for by the person selling a home at a cost estimated at anywhere between £700 and £1,000 they would have included a survey, or "home condition report", plus other information, including an energy efficiency rating, searches and title deeds.

The packs were to be introduced from June next year. From then on, anyone selling a home would have had to provide a copy of the pack to potential buyers.

The aim was admirable: to make buying and selling a home easier. Getting the seller to pay for a survey that was available up front would make buying cheaper and easier, the argument went and would also reduce the risk of a purchase falling through later.

But there were also worries. How much faith could someone buying a home put in a survey paid for by the person selling? And would requiring a home seller to pay for a survey discourage people from trying to sell their homes? There were fears about a slump in the property market as fewer homes came up for sale.

Now the Government has done a u-turn. It will still press ahead with the launch of Hips next year, but they won't contain the home condition report.

More work remains to be done on the home condition reports, admitted housing minister Yvette Cooper. In particular, the Government had failed to train enough surveyors to act as home inspectors to prepare the reports.

But a Hip without a home condition report would be virtually useless, said York estate agent Ben Hudson, of Hudson Moody.

"The rest of it searches, title deeds and so on we are already doing now," he said. "This has been a total u-turn."

Hips, at least for now, are not going to be the answer to the home-buying nightmare.

Most people, however, agree something still needs to be done.

Waiting for that final exchange of contracts often only days or even hours before the move date is one of the most stressful experiences most of us go through. It is not unknown to have a chain of 16 people, all waiting to move only for the whole chain to collapse because one of the links is pulled out, says Ben Hudson.

"It can be very frustrating."

With the collapse of Hips, the home buying market does still need to be sorted out, says Reuben Barrett, branch manager of Otisdale, in York.

"Moving is a very stressful time for people and the whole process takes far too long in the UK, far too long," he said.

So if not Hips, what is the answer?

Looking on the bright side, the abandonment of Hips should make the housing market less volatile next year, says Kevin Hollinrake, of estate agents Hunters.

"There won't be the ups and downs that there could have been," he said.

Advances in electronic technology could also make buying and selling easier, he said.

Mr Hollinrake also called for mandatory licensing for estate agents, and membership of an ombudsman scheme.

"There is no perfect system, but I think some of the problems can be brought about through less-than-professional estate agents," he said.

Ruth Hone, branch manager of Pink estate agents in York, said more needed to be done to help first-time buyers.

Salaries were not keeping up with house prices, she said, which made it difficult to take that first step on the housing ladder.

York chartered surveyor Jon Charters-Reid said home buyers would lose out from Hips not including a home condition report.

Only 30 per cent of home buyers commissioned a proper survey before buying, he said and those who didn't could move in to find subsidence or some other major problem.

At least with the home condition report, they would have been warned in advance.

He believes the home condition reports would have speeded up the process of buying and selling. He suggests sellers should have their own report prepared by a qualified surveyor, which they could then show to potential buyers.

Then they could be reasonably confident that anyone putting in a serious offer would not pull out later.

Case study 1 LIZ Devine-Wright is no stranger to buying houses. She owns 12 properties altogether, mostly rented out.

The Tadcaster businesswoman's most recent acquisition was a property she put an offer in on in February this year. Typically and even though she didn't have to sell a property it took months for the sale to be completed.

If she hadn't have gone through a reputable estate agent, she might well have found herself being gazumped, she said.

One of her own tenants found herself without anywhere to live after trying to buy her own home, she added. The sale fell through at the last minute, by which time Liz had already re-let the house.

So Liz knows how difficult and stressful buying property can be.

To speed things up, she would like to see a deadline for completion of all the documentation, with penalties payable by those responsible if the deadline was not met.

She also thinks a system such as that used in Scotland to prevent gazumping would help.

Once you have accepted an offer, she says, you shouldn't just be able to change your mind because you get a better offer. "There are so many other people relying on you."

Case study 2 WAITING for completion was the hardest thing for new home owner Michelle Lancaster.

Michelle, 24, a graphic designer, recently bought a house in Leeman Road with her partner, Russell.

Arranging a mortgage and saving up a deposit was tough, she said. But waiting to exchange contracts was even harder.

"It took about 12 weeks to complete and we felt as though it was all taken out of our hands," she said.

"We felt as though we should have had more information about what was happening and when."

It would be good to have information about a house before making an offer, says Michelle.

But too much information may overwhelm people.

"I think you have enough on your plate and there's enough information to take in already.

"I agree with people having information to begin with, but I don't know if a massive pack would help."

Case study 3 GENERAL manager Nicky Goldthorpe has just received the keys to her first home.

Although it has been a stressful time, she is happy with her experience of buying a house but relieved she didn't have to sell a property as well.

"It's taken an extremely long time but it's been fine," she said.

"I'm glad I didn't have a house to sell myself I think that would have sent the stress levels incredibly high."

Nicky, 36, put an offer in on her one-bedroom terrace on May 5. The sale was only completed on Friday.

"I'm not quite sure why it took so long because it went very smoothly," she said. "It was stressful all the way though, especially at the end with transferring all the money."

Saving a deposit was the hardest thing for her, she says, but deciphering legal jargon was also a task.

She thinks Hips would have been a step in the right direction.

"They would have made things easier from the buyer's point of view," she said.

"There is so much legal speech and paperwork involved in buying a house and it would be nice if that was made simpler."

Case study 4 LOUISE, a 30-year-old retail manager, has been trying to sell her two-bed Fulford flat since April with no luck, so far. There has been one offer, but it failed to meet her asking price.

The delays have been frustrating, because she and her boyfriend, Pete, have seen a number of houses they would like, but cannot make a full offer until they find a buyer for their flat.

Ideally, she says, they would like to sell and buy in one go. But it is not always easy. "The whole chain thing makes it very difficult," she said.

She would favour something similar to the Scottish system, to speed up the process.

"I have in-laws in Scotland. If someone accepts an offer up there, they cannot then back out," she said. "That would be a good idea here. I'm always worried about gazumping."

DANIEL CHIWARA asked people what they thought would make the process of buying and selling houses easier.

Sheila Taylor, 63, a retired hairdresser: "If the deposits were lower, it would be easier for young buyers."

Steve White, 23, a road-worker: "There should be better communication between solicitors, customers and estate agents."

Katie Etheridge, 20, a full-time mother, of York: "More deals for first-time buyers, because it's very difficult."

Carol Hellas, 45, a support worker, of York: "The Home Information Packs could be beneficial to the buyer, but the drawback is what it will cost the seller."

How it works in Scotland

THERE should never be gazumping in Scotland, says Clydebank estate agent John McHugh. Scotland operates a bidding system, where buyers are invited to "offer over" a certain price. The seller will accept the best offer, with the final agreed price usually being 15-20 per cent above the "offers over" price named on the details.

The offer is not binding at that stage. But in Scotland, matters proceed quickly to the "exchange of missives" equivalent to our "exchange of contracts" after which the deal is binding.

The exchange of missives can take place after three or four weeks, Mr McHugh said, and it remains binding even if the move doesn't take place for months. "That stops gazumping," he said.

The problem with that, says Kevin Hollinrake of Hunters estate agents in York, is that you may end up paying for three or four surveys before finding a house you want to make an offer on.

"But there are some benefits to that system," he admits.