Clause 7Contents of sellers' packs
Homes Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
The right hon. Gentleman makes a point similar to the one that I made in my evidence to the inquiry into flooding conducted by the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee. I made the very point that the fact that the property is in a flood plain does not of itself necessarily indicate that there is a risk of flooding. We are all in a flood plain. The whole of central London is a flood plain. However, given the presence of the Thames barrier, the likelihood of a flood is very much reduced. Therefore, the information needs to be relevant and to take account of the remediation and safeguards that are present to try to counter those risks. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept that we are very much alert to the point that he has raised, and we do not wish to raise undue fears by information being included that is only partially accurate and therefore could give a false impression. It is important that information should be available, but the information must be useful and give a true picture of the extent of the risks that exist.
Amendment No. 40 would amend clause 7(5)(e). That provides that the regulations may prescribe that ``any warranties or guarantees'' relating to the property should be included in the pack. The amendment would restrict this to ``warranties or guarantees'' that relate to the physical structure of the property. The intention here is to make sure that, where a new home is being sold, the NHBC or similar warranty is included in the pack. If it is not—for example, if the builder is not a member of the scheme—then a home condition report must be provided instead. This guarantee clearly concerns the physical structure of the property and therefore meets concerns expressed by the hon. Member for Eastbourne. In other cases, the pack may include guarantees that do not relate to the structure— for example, a guarantee for a new central heating boiler. However, such documents need be included only where they are available, and there will be no question of sanctions being brought against people who have mislaid them.
I apologise to the Committee for having taken such a long time to deal with these issues but, as hon. Members will accept, these are complex issues, right at the heart of this piece of legislation and I think it is right that all hon. Members should be aware of them.
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will now accept that his amendment should be withdrawn and that we can proceed to further matters.