The roll-out of controversial Home Information Packs to cover smaller properties has met with a mixed reaction from Oxford property professionals.

The Government announced yesterday that anyone selling a home in England and Wales will need one of the Hips packs from December 14, including owners of homes with two or fewer bedrooms, who have been excluded until now.

Nicholas Tidder, of Chaselaw Solicitors in Oxford, said: "The timing couldn't be worse.

"What with Northern Rock, the credit squeeze and the uncertainty about mortage rates, this is not going to help the property market."

But he added: "It's a necessary evil. It's something we have to live with, but it would have been better to delay it until March or April, when the property market picks up.

"It's not helpful at the moment. I think things are going to get worse before they get better."

However, Gavin West, of Oxford estate agents Kemp and Kemp, said the packs - introduced on September 10 for homes with three or more bedrooms - had made no discernible difference to the volume of sales so far.

"We are certainly not finding that any of the Hips packs has led to delays. It's not made a jot of difference to the speed of transactions and I don't really hold with the view that people have held back from selling because of Hips.

"It has not stopped people from coming to the market and I find it hard to believe what some people have been saying about the effects."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the packs, which take between seven and 10 days to be prepared, had wiped out a significant proportion of the 20 per cent of sellers who put their home up for sale just to test the market.

It said 67 per cent of chartered surveyors had seen a fall in the number of new properties with three or more bedrooms put up for sale during October compared with the same month of 2006.

The packs contain an energy performance certificate, information on whether the property is freehold or leasehold, standard searches and evidence of title.

Hips cost £300-£350 plus VAT, but many estate agents include them in their fees.

The Government says that as well as cutting the number of sales that fall through, the packs will help people reduce their energy consumption and make their home more environmentally friendly.