The new government has suspended Home Information Packs (HIPs) with immediate effect.
However, the energy performance certificate (EPC) will remain, being a requirement under EU law.
Lee Watts, managing director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, was #delighted by the decision, calling it "long overdue." He added: "[HIPs] were ill conceived and badly implemented and only served to increase the cost to sellers of moving home and deter some homeowners from putting their houses up for sale."
Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, said: "We are hugely disappointed to hear that Grant Shapps has reneged on his promise to review the packs before any other action was taken. Over 3,000 jobs will go and 10,000 will be affected as a result of the suspension of HIPs and £100million revenue will be lost to the Treasury in VAT receipts.
"However, we want to work with the Government and we still want the consultation we have been promised. We are not suggesting that HIPs should be retained. AHIPP has accepted that they will be scrapped.
"We have been proposing for months that a legal or exchange ready pack be instructed at the start of the sales process. We think it would be crazy to throw the baby out with the bathwater and remove at a stroke all the good things that have come about with HIPs, and the lessons we have learnt.
"If we do this, then the opportunity for reform will have been lost for a generation."
Richard Sexton, business development director of e.surv, said: "The demise of HIPs will have implications for the industry that has sprung up to deliver the service and this group of providers could well be considering mounting a legal challenge against their abolition. The alternative to HIPs would have been to move towards a version of the more successful Scottish Home Report, but with competing priorities, it would seem the government doesn’t feel this to be a huge priority.
"The real question for the new government is how will they enforce the regulations. EPCs have been mandatory since October 2008 and subject to fines for non-compliance. While EPCs have been highly visible in estate agents’ windows, many private landlords currently ignore this requirement when letting property. It will need increased non-compliance penalties for the regulations to have real bite.
"EPCs could become very powerful in the future because they could be a way of driving differential tax breaks to support the green agenda and therefore become an important part of consumer decision-making."
In the coalition agreement published today, the government also said it would promote shared ownership schemes and help social tenants own or part-own their homes.
However, in a surprise move, it only committed to reviewing the "effectiveness" of raising the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers. In its manifesto, the Tories had pledged to permanently raise the stamp duty threshold for first-time house buyers to £250,000.
