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Housing: Home Information Packs

My Lords, I declare my interest as a surveyor and as one of those who were conned by the Government into getting trained, only to have the rug pulled from underneath me. I cannot possibly comment on the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Addington, because I might be a beneficiary of it. How we miss the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, on an evening like this. As we wade through the mire of the shambles of this legislation, chest waders are still needed, so I have a lot of questions for the Government. Will the Minister confirm that from now on and after June, agents will still be able to offer first-day marketing? In order to allow this, may I suggest that the energy performance certificate, the EPC, which is the only new item in the pack, can be made voluntary at marketing but mandatory before the exchange of contracts? The Government have to bring this provision in; it is European legislation and it was tacked on to the Bill to make their commitment to this satisfactory. That would be one way of making the scheme work. Another way to have first-day marketing is to provide a certificate to the trading standards inspectorate, if necessary, that a pack has been commissioned from the pack provider. After all, it is mostly legal documents. So, as an agent, if we get instructions we can ring up and ask the pack provider or the solicitor to provide the document. If they have a certificate and it is on the way, we can start marketing. The EPC will require about 1 million extra car journeys a year because it will be necessary before marketing begins. That could be deferred by my suggestion of making the EPC mandatory. It could then be included in the valuation by the purchaser later on in the process. The EPC is valid for 10 years. It is also needed at the change of every tenancy. Which takes precedence? What happens with holiday lets? Are the Government giving us any clear instructions on that? We do not have long to go. The dry run is another 180 degree U-turn by the Government and £4 million of taxpayers’ money will be spent on it. But some of the home information packs will be subsidised. That is not a dry run; that is not testing the market. It gives a completely false impression. This dry run is already discredited because it will be supervised by the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, which has a vested interest in the process. It is exactly the same mistake that the Government made with the Bristol trial before this legislation started. Maria Coleman had a vested interest in a home information pack business and was trying to pose as an estate agent at the same time. Where is the industry now? The RICS has lost credibility on this. The National Association of Estate Agents started off badly but suddenly got it right and has gained in credibility. A new organisation has surprisingly sprung up. It is called SPLINTA—Sellers’ Pack Law Is Not The Alternative—ably run by Nick Salmon. It comprises 1,800 firms of surveyors, solicitors and estate agents across the whole breadth of the housing market, covering more than 3,500 offices throughout the country, and it is still growing. Those organisations—the RICS, the NAEA and SPLINTA—want improvements in the housing market. Stop, take a deep breath and come back and talk to us because we want to move just as much as the Minister, but this time let us go in harmony rather than in disharmony.