HOMES: Victims of Govt info pack U-turn
A CITY businesswoman has taken up the cause of hundreds of people in the region who have been left high and dry by a Government U-turn.
A CITY businesswoman has taken up the cause of hundreds of people in the region who have been left high and dry by a Government U-turn.
The mandatory home seller's pack was trumpeted as the cure for all ills related to home buying and selling by the Government.
People were encouraged to go out and train as home inspectors, which many did at a cost of thousands of pounds.
Last week the Government decided to scrap a key part of the home seller's pack.
Now Estate agent Linda Gray has written to Housing Minister Yvette Cooper demanding answers about what she thinks people, some of whom have re-mortgaged their homes to pay for the training, were expected to do and how the Government planned to compensate them.
The mum of two is also asking for a meeting with the Minister so she can explain how scrapping the central part of the mandatory information packs has affected people.
When Mrs Gray posted a copy of her letter to the housing minister on a home inspection internet site, she received a flood of complaints from people who had completed the training course, but now feared for their future.
Mrs Gray runs Grays Homes, in Broadway, Peterborough, where two employees have trained as home condition inspectors, skills they have acquired for a job that is now no longer required.
She said: "The Government U-turn and the postponing of the mandatory reports will mean uncertainly for around 4,500 people who have trained to be inspectors.
"It costs about 9,500 to complete the course and most people have had to re-mortgage their homes to put themselves through it.
"Whether you agree with the idea of the reports or not, this U-turn will cause financial hardship for many people.
"My son, Simon, has left his job after 10 years to start training next month to find it might not go ahead, while my son Robert has just finished the qualification.
"Simon has three young children to support and I have had hundreds of dreadful hard luck stories sent to me.
"These are the true victims of this action and we want to talk to Yvette Cooper about these problems.
"The government has a duty of care to all home inspectors due to their recruitment drive and promises of job opportunities.
"We embraced the idea of the reports, which we thought were a very positive move for the housing market, and now some of us are in total despair and require assurances and advice as to where our futures lie."
The Government wanted the information packs to prevent the hundreds of property deals that collapse each year at the last minute when faults were found by buyers.
The report was to include checks on title deeds, local authority searches, answers to standard questions and energy performance certificates and would be needed before a house could be put on the market.
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