The Government yesterday announced that the controversial survey element of Home Information Packs will not be included at their launch next year.

Minister for Housing and Planning Yvette Cooper said further testing of Home Condition Reports was needed to ensure they delivered the i ntended benefits for consumers.

She said there were also concerns that there would not be sufficient trained inspectors to cope with the demand if the reports were included in the main launch of the packs in June 2007.

At the same time, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned that many lenders would not be ready to use Home Condition Reports until 2008/2009, meaning they would continue to seek separate mortgage valuation surveys.

In a written statement to Parliament, Ms Cooper said: "As a result, we have concluded that there would be significant risks and potential disadvantages to consumers from a mandatory 'big bang' introduction of full Home Condition Reports on June 1, 2007."

She said Home Information Packs (HIPs) would still be introduced with searches and other key documents, including energy performance certificates, from June next year, but Home Condition Reports would not be made mandatory.

Instead she said the Government was looking at a progressive market-led take-up of the reports.

She said people with a Home Condition Report were likely to benefit from faster sales with fewer transactions falling through, while in time buyers should also get cheaper and swifter mortgage valuations and offers.

Ms Cooper said: "We therefore believe that there will be a significant incentive for consumers to top up their HIPs voluntarily to include full Home Condition Reports and that this is a product that the market can and should deliver."

But she added that the reports would still become mandatory if the industry failed to make a success of them. HIPs have come in for fierce criticism from the prop-erty industry, with claims they risk destabilising the housing market.

There have also been claims that the cost of the compiling the packs, which could be as high as £1,000 including a Home Condition Report, would deter people from putting their home on the market.

There were also concerns that people who wanted a quick sale would have to wait 14 days while one of the packs was put together before they could market their home.

But Ms Cooper said the Government was considering allowing people to begin marketing their homes as soon as they had commissioned a pack, without having to wait for 14 days while it was put together.

The Government is introducing the packs in a bid to reduce the £1 million that is wasted each day as a result of property sales falling through at a late stage.

It also hopes the inclusion of energy performance certificates in the packs will encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.