Earlier this week, the Conservative Party pledged to scrap Home Information Packs (HIPs) and raise both the stamp duty and inheritance tax thresholds if they were brought into power.

Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Packs (AHIPP), said: “Abolishing HIPs to make it easier and cheaper to buy homes, as cited by the party, is the very reason why the packs have been introduced in the first place. Currently one in four transactions fail when purchasing a house, costing consumers £1m per day and it seems strange that the Conservatives wish to continue this sorry state of affairs for buyers and sellers. HIPs have been introduced to make the house buying process more transparent and quicker and this will benefit all buyers.

“HIPs will particularly help first-time buyers - a group of homebuyers that the Conservatives are supposed to be trying to help. HIPs mean these cash strapped buyers have all the information they need up front, paid for by the vendor. On the one hand, Cameron is trying to help first-time buyers by removing the stamp duty burden, on the other he has stated his intention to disadvantage them by scrapping HIPs. It doesn’t seem to make sense.”