A year on, Home Information Packs are just 'a waste of time', survey reveals

The majority of house buyers think Home Information Packs are a waste of time, a survey has revealed.

Fifty-seven per cent of those questioned said it is time to scrap HIPs, introduced last August in a bid to simplify the home-buying process.

The YouGov poll, commissioned by Leeds Legali – an alliance of the city's major law firms – found that only 5 per cent believed the packs had delivered benefits, while 68 per cent said they had failed to make a positive difference.

It is the latest blow to the controversial packs, which cost sellers £350 and contain title deeds, searches and an energy performance certificate.

The scheme was opposed by estate agent trade bodies, solicitors and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Stephen Pickard of Leeds Legal said buyers had been forced to seek independent advice after finding the content of the packs unreliable.

Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps said HIPs had undermined the housing market. 'One year on, the public don't trust the paper these packs are written on,' he said.

'The only people who want to keep these broken HIPs are the vested interests who are peddling them, and the Government ministers who are falsely using the green fig leaf of the environment to justify this latest public policy disaster.'

Peter Bolton King, of the National Association of Estate Agents, said: 'Since their conception, the packs have been surrounded by a catalogue of disasters.

'And, so far, rather than helping to improve the home buying and selling process, they have served as a hindrance and nothing more than a purposeless piece of red tape.'

Confusion over the packs forced former Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly to delay their implementation and exclude smaller homes from the initial phase of the scheme last year.