Although the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has scrapped Home Information Packs (HIPs), estate agents are calling for swift clarification of the move.

The packs were made compulsory for all vendors in 2007 to provide more information "upfront" for buyers. In most cases, they cost £200 to £500.

HIPs, although scrapped, will stay until the law which put them in place is repealed, which could take months. During that time, many vendors might turn a blind eye to HIPs, although they will still have to provide an Energy Performance Certificate.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) says: "This is great news for the housing market and for buyers, few of whom paid much attention to these pointless packs.

"It is also good for sellers, who will no longer need to shell out hundreds of pounds for a piece of pointless regulation that benefits no one."

Robert Bartlett, chief executive of agents Chesterton Humberts, said: "The abolition of HIPs will help to create more fluidity in the market place, allowing people to enter the market without unnecessary costs associated with HIPs or the restrictions imposed on not being able to offer a property for sale until the HIP was ready."

However, the big danger to the housing market could be that vendors, seeing HIPs on their deathbed, delay putting their homes on sale to save a few hundred pounds.