The Home Information Pack, why we have it.

It all started back in 1997, when Frank Dobson MP produced the policy document "No to " the practice of out bidding on a sale of property.

As an integral part of the policy, there was a plan to not only stop gazumping, but to stem the 30% rate of housing sales collapsing.

The office of the deputy prime minister adopted the policy.

On December the 8th 2003, the new housing bill was first put to parliament, in amongst the various contents of the bill, the home information pack was proposed.

In November 2004, the bill was passed, and the home information pack was part of an act of parliament, the housing act 2004.

All information and regulations are in part 5 of The Housing Act 2004 and the Home Information Pack Regulations 2006.

1^st June 2007, the home information pack became mandatory.

The act encompasses much more than the home information pack, but the pack is the way we must buy and sell our homes from June 1^st 2007, by law.

Anyone wishing to put their property on the market now, must have a home information pack in place before offering the property for sale.

Vendors offering a home information pack, may attract more attention than those that do not from home buyers. This has not been proven, therefore, we shall reserve judgement until later.

On a more governmental note, the effects of the home information pack are more far reaching.

The scheme is designed to be in compliance with the Kyoto agreement. The national database that will be compiled through the introduction of the home information pack, will intrude deeply into your personal affairs.

Properties will be tracked and monitored then reports can be compiled about regional values and states of repair etc.

But the option is there to track and group individuals, according to wealth, area and any number of other variables. You would be right to be suspicious of such a database, and you may also be concerned that the database could be freely available to government bodies, such as, the police, the inland revenue, and of course, customs.