FARNHAM'S MP has slammed a new government policy forcing homeowners to pay £600 to sell their house or flat. From the start of June anyone selling their home in England and Wales will have to pay for an inspector to come into their home and produce a Home Information Pack. If homeowners put up a 'for sale' sign or advertise their home without a pack, they face repeated £200 fines. Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, this week warned the new "red tape", could undermine the stability of the housing market, increase the costs of moving and would discourage potential sellers from advertising their home. Mr Hunt said: "Moving home is one of the most stressful things anyone can do. "Yet this new red tape threatens to make it worse, not better. Rather than protecting consumers in South West Surrey, these new regulations will increase the cost of moving and threatens to undermine the supply of new properties onto the housing market. "The central part of the Home Information Pack, the keystone around which everything else was constructed, has now been demolished. "The government should go back to the drawing board, rather than introduce 'half-baked' HIPs purely to avoid further ministerial embarrassment. "These packs will be just an additional burden on home buyers on top of soaring council tax bills and stamp duty."
