AFTER months of holding their breath and saying "Will they or won’t they?" or, more often, "Can they or can’t they?", estate agents heard the final regulations for Home Information Packs on March 29 and the irrevocable news that the introduction of HIPs on June 1 will stand whether or not the industry is ready… and many are not.

This means that in just under a month’s time, before a home can be offered for sale, the legal documents relating to the property and an energy performance certificate similar to that found on new fridges and cars, must be made available to potential purchasers.

The new operations formed to put these packs together – the "HIPs providers" – all claim to deliver in five working days. During this time the details of the house for sale will sit in a TOP SECRET file in the estate agent’s office with severe penalties to any agents identifying the property to keen and impatient buyers before the paperwork is done and dusted.

Most of these HIP providers are unproven and it is doubtful that they, and many estate agents, will be able to cope with this change in sale procedure that will effect the 1.5 million homes that go on the market every year. The cost of this wad of 40 or more pages of legalistic unreadable documents is about £400 and will have to be financed because most sellers pay their fees from the proceeds of the sale.

A new Dads’ Army of energy assessors is being trained but not enough will qualify by June 1 and some home sellers may be reluctant to pay the extra four hundred quid, even though it’s a tiny percentage of the value of their home.

The result of this is probably that from June 1, fewer properties will come onto the market so, unless a stock is built up now by canny vendors who can avoid the fee by putting their property up for sale before June 1, there will be an aggravation of the current shortage which will last at least into the summer and possibly beyond, which can only increase prices as demand is unrelenting.

As everyone gets used to HIPs things may settle down, but it is the biggest change to house selling in living memory and a major change in culture for all of us, which is bound to have unforeseeable consequences.

* Ron Kennor is General Manager of Robinson Jackson Estate Agencies on 020 8316 6200.