Stewart Maxwell, the Minister for Communities and Sport, whose remit includes Home Reports, faced calls to postpone the instruction of the controversial reports later this year. They are currently due to come in to force at the start of December.

In an open letter to Mr Maxwell, GSPC Chairman, Michael Samuel, and Chief Executive, Bill Scouller, argued that the introduction of Home Reports in the current market could impose unexpected costs on sellers and reduce the number of properties coming on to the market.

The recent slow down in the market has prompted many homeowners to sell their current home before committing to purchasing another property.  But that could be a costly strategy once Home Reports are compulsory.  Those who do not find a buyer for their home may ultimately have to pick up the cost of a potentially expensive Home Report which will certainly run to several hundred pounds.  Others, who cannot be certain of a sale in a reasonable time and at an acceptable price, may decide not to put their home on the market at all.

The result, claims GSPC, is that a significant number of homeowners could be left with a substantial bill without ever selling their home while the number of homes coming onto the market could fall significantly.  The solution would be to delay the introduction of Home Reports until the market is more buoyant.  

Michael Samuel commented: "The launch of Home Reports could result in a significant number of homeowners facing a bill for hundreds of pounds with no sale to show for it and a major decrease in choice for homebuyers. Neither of these outcomes would be desirable in the current climate."  And Bill Scouller added: "In light of this GSPC believes that the Scottish Government should postpone the introduction of Home reports to such a time when sellers feel confident that they will be able to sell".