Housing Act 2004 (Commencement No. 8) (England and Wales) Order 2007

My Lords, the difficulties that are inherent in the sale and purchase of real property are considerable and historic, and will remain with us whatever view the House takes on this Motion. In our debate on 22 May, many, including myself, belaboured the point that for more than 300 years there has been an inevitable time gap between the moment at which an agreement—a meeting of minds in an oral agreement—is made with regard to the sale and purchase of land and the moment at which that agreement becomes binding in law by the evidence in writing of the agreement. For the past 18 years, that has had to be in writing. That will remain the situation, and that is the essential problem. In that time gap, good and evil will operate. The good that will operate will be that the purchaser is able to negotiate fully a mortgage—that is needed in the vast majority of home purchase transactions—and he will be able to make full investigations into the physical state of the property and any environmental problems. That cannot happen overnight and it is the main reason why there is that time gap of three to six months between the oral agreement and the exchange of contracts. The room for manoeuvre by the Government—by any Government, however committed—is therefore limited. I sought to belabour that point on the last occasion and I make no apology for doing so again, because it seems to be central. However, the Government, on this occasion, are in a stronger position than they were on 22 May. At that time, I suggested, perhaps less than prudently, that the failure to make the home condition survey part of a compulsory scheme was a fundamental flaw. I have changed my mind. Even if it was made compulsory, a valuation would still be necessary. On what would that depend? It would depend on the property’s physical condition. Therefore, a home survey that did not contain a valuation—and it has never been suggested that it would contain one—would inevitably be duplicated and, in practice, would not achieve anything on its own. For that reason, I have changed my mind. There is a case for the home information pack even if its effect is limited. One beneficial effect is the creation of a culture of acceleration in relation to that period of three to six months. There is some anecdotal evidence that constant pressure—and the Government have been consistent on this for 10 years—has brought about some change, because of that climate of psychology. Indeed, there is overt evidence that over 50 local authorities, being acutely conscious of the delay in issuing search results and of the cost of searches, have reduced both the time period and the cost by at least 20 per cent. What about the £20 million spent on this over the years? If that money has been responsible for that result alone, as I believe it has, it will have been money well invested. The limitations are considerable. I am sure that anybody looking soberly and fairly at the situation will accept that. It is right and proper that the energy certificate should be an integral part of the home information pack. Obviously, I am not privy to the Government’s thinking, but I do not know why they have gone so far in this direction, beyond the Brussels requirements—maybe out of some obeisance towards Brussels, but I doubt it. I suspect that it has much more to do with the consideration that over a quarter of our energy emissions come from domestic premises and that, for a comparatively low rate of expenditure and with comparatively little interference with the rights and day-to-day manoeuvres of ordinary people, this proposal can achieve a great deal. If that can be brought about, that again will be a first-class investment. I appreciate that, since 22 May, there has been a vast improvement in the number of accredited inspectors. I am glad that that is so and that there is a gradual phasing-in of this system to avoid a potential big bang of bringing it in all at the same time. However, there remains considerable cynicism on the part of those sitting on the Conservative Benches and, to some extent, on the Liberal Democrat Benches. Far be it from me to pretend to sit in judgment on them in this matter, but I hope that they will accept that here we are dealing with a massive social problem, which has caused much frustration and much unnecessary loss to many people. The losses in financial terms alone must amount to well over £500 million per annum. About 25 per cent of all sales fall through, many on account of gazumping, and there is little that we can do to change that. Even if we adopted a Scottish system of a series of missives, I doubt very much, due to the totally different culture relating to conveyancing in England and Wales, whether it would bring about any meaningful change. Therefore, we are left with a considerable social problem, as I am sure the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats accept. What is their solution? Are they prepared to ask the public to consider any alternative here? I say that not in any spiteful way or with a hectoring attitude, but I beg them to consider whether it is necessary to divide the House on this matter. If they do, whether they succeed or not, they will create confusion and uncertainty for the general public. I do not pretend for a moment that the situation is not already tainted by confusion and uncertainty, but they will add to that and I do not think that they will do the British public any service whatever.