Red tape slammed

He said: "Under Labour's proposals for so-called Home Information Packs, householders will have to pay up to 600 to put up a 'for sale' sign, or else be fined by the local council.

"Yet, in another government u-turn, the packs will only be compulsory for four-bedroom homes from August 1 and then phased in for all other homes at an unspecified date.

"The small print of the new Government regulations defines a four-bedroom home as a property which is just 'marketed' as a four-bedroom home.

"This means that a house which is simply advertised as having 'three bedrooms and a spare room' would not need to spend hundreds of pounds on a pack.

"A home owner could just move the bed out of the bedroom to comply with the letter of the regulations.

"Labour's plans for Home Information Packs are turning into a Whitehall farce. Just by moving a bed out of one of your bedrooms you will avoid the need to pay for these expensive and unwanted packs.

"Moving is stressful enough without all this new red tape, which threatens to make it worse, not better.

"Rather than protecting consumers in Bexhill and Battle, I fear these new regulations will cause public confusion and undermine the stability of the housing market. That's why the Conservatives are pressing Gordon Brown to scrap this chaotic bureaucracy."