The property world has lost thousands from investing in the half-baked HIP scheme beloved by the Government. The Home Information Packs, due to become law on 1st June, have been shelved until August because of a legal challenge from the RICS and a shortage of assessors to survey the energy performance of homes.

Withdrawing the HIPs packs just eight days before they were due to begin has left estate agents and those trained as home inspectors fuming. Vast sums have been spent setting up businesses aimed at HIPs provision, not to mention the add-on costs shelled out by estate agents to market and advertise the new services.

As radio, tv and press campaigns are shelved, and as hundreds of home inspectors (who have paid as much as £9,000 on training courses) are laid off, one wonders what compensation will be offered to those who spent freely in the run up to June 1st? Probably none at all.

Most likely is that the HIPs packs, supposed to speed the buying and selling process, will now be dropped. The Government, humiliated by Ruth Kelly MP's announcement to the House that HIPs have been delayed, faces further loss of face if the scheme simply fades away.

Plans are to instate the packs on August 1st, but only for houses with 4 bedrooms or more. The policy - more than 10 years in the making - is likely to be dropped by Gordon Brown. Critics have already claimed that HIPs could bring crippling uncertaintly to the housing market, which sees more than 1 million transactions a year.

Estate Agent Spicer Haart's chief executive, Paul Smith, commented of Kelly "I don't think she has any idea what's going on in the property world. This project is in severe jeopardy."

Rather like Ruth Kelly's career we suggest.