Packs will be 'totally unenforcable' with some easy legal sidestepping

Loopholes in the controversial laws on Home Information Packs (Hips) will make them ‘totally unenforceable’ according to critics.

By simply removing the bed from a fourth bedroom and renaming it the spare room will exempt home owners from needing a pack. This will save them £600.

Because the government has defined a four bedroom house as being marketed as a property with four bedrooms, simply changing the description of the final bedroom is enough to no longer need a Hip.

The regulations also state that any home put on the market before August 1 does not require a pack. A home is defined as being put on the market when it is ‘made public’, Therefore a mention on a personal website such as MySpace or Facebook before August 1 would reach enough members of the public to make the property public, thus exempting the seller from having to order a pack.

Trading standards officers overseeing the scheme have admitted the packs may well remain unenforceable as they have insufficient legal powers.

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