Clause 7 - Contents of sellers' packs
Homes Bill
10:30 am
Mr Don Foster (Bath, Liberal Democrat)
I am delighted that the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) moved the amendment to give us an opportunity to debate an issue about which, as he rightly pointed out, a number of the Minister's hon. Friends raised considerable concerns on Second Reading. The hon. Gentleman will be aware, as you are, Mr. Gale, that we have had an opportunity to touch on the issue on several occasions during our deliberations, but I want to draw the Committee's and particularly the Minister's attention to a letter that I recently received from Knight Frank, a major firm of estate agents. It raises what is almost the opposite end of the problem, and I would be grateful for the Minister's comments. That firm wonders whether the requirement for a seller's pack should be applied to very large properties. It proposes that any property with two or more acres should be excluded from the Bill, although I have not tabled an amendment to that effect. If the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Eastbourne were accepted, it would prevent any opportunity for the Minister to take that proposal into account in the regulations.
In the letter, Knight Frank makes the point that the burden on farmers and smallholders selling large properties would be huge, because the costs of preparing a seller's pack and condition report for such a property would be proportionately much higher, bearing in mind rights of way, easements, additional buildings and so on.
I suspect that the Minister will say that all that information would have to be obtained during a sale anyway and that there may well be advantages—the same advantages for which he has argued strenuously in the case of all other properties—in providing it in a seller's pack. However, as Knight Frank and other organisations have contacted me with concerns about the impact of the clause on people seeking to sell large properties, the Minister might like to comment on those concerns.