WE all hope and pray that the housing market will remain buoyant over the next few months.

There's no reason why it shouldn't, even if the more doom-laden among us have started to see all kinds of problems ahead in their tea leaves. Nevertheless, the last thing that the property world needed was home information packs, brought in for all the wrong reasons, and yet another example of how damaging political meddling can be.

Worcester estate agents are reported to have mixed feelings about HIPs but I've never been in any doubt. They're doctrinaire nonsense and constitute yet another tax on the hard-pressed working man and woman.