The government is confident that the Housing Bill will “be law by early next year” despite a pledge from the Conservatives that the bill “will definitely fall”, writes Stuart Macdonald.

The comments came in the wake of a crucial vote in the House of Lords on Tuesday night in which the government narrowly saw off a Conservative amendment – by 23 votes – that would have removed a vital section of the bill.

This related to the controversial proposal on home information packs that would make it compulsory for people selling their homes to pay for a survey to be conducted before placing the home on the market.

The government has pledged that any changes to what it sees as a “non-negotiable” section of the bill would be unacceptable and that the bill would be dropped rather than compromised.

The Housing Bill must complete its passage through parliament before the Queen’s Speech on 23 November – the opening of the next session of parliament – as the government has said it will not carry the bill over.

It is understood that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are working on a joint amendment to the bill to make Home Information Packs voluntary. This will be voted on when the bill receives its third reading in the Lords.

A Conservative spokesman said: “This is going right down to the wire and the ODPM has to decide whether or not it wants to lose the whole bill over this.”

Baroness Maddock, Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman in the House of Lords, said: “Hopefully we will work with the Conservatives on this amendment, but I can’t say right now whether or not we will support them on it as this depends on the wording.”

An ODPM spokesman said: “Even if there is an argument over this we are confident we will get it through. It will be law by early next year.”

Housing Bill countdown

  • 3 Nov: Housing Bill receives third reading in House of Lords.
  • 8 Nov: bill planned to received Royal Assent.
  • 23 Nov: opening of new session of parliament and Queen’s Speech