§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether Her Majesty's Government have been asked by the Commission of the European Communities to comment upon the principal report by Wilde Sapte and Maclay Murray and Spens, entitled "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers", which it commissioned; and what his policy is on the conclusions of that report;
(2) what information he has concerning the conclusions of the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers" which was commissioned by the Commission of the European Communities and received by the Commission in August 1993; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what consultations with industry have been undertaken by his Department in connection with the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers" commissioned by the Commission of the European Communities; and if he will make a statement;
204W(4) what recent representations he has received from (a) the House Builders Federation, (b) the Manufacturing and Construction Industries Alliance and (c) other bodies concerning the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers" which was commissioned by the Commission of the European Communities; and if he will make a statement;
(5) if he will make a statement indicating the position of Her Majesty's Government on those provisions of the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers" which deal with (a) legal advice given to purchasers of property, (b) standard contracts used by developers, (c) the use of technical reports from surveyors, and (d) the time scale of property purchase and local authority searches; and to what extent in each case the proposals are consistent with his Department's deregulation initiative;
(6) if he will make a statement indicating the position of Her Majesty's Government on those provisions of the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property Purchased by Consumers" which deal with (a) financial advice on the purchase of property, (b) provision of information concerning planning issues, (c) taxation associated with property transfer, (d) secure deposit holding schemes, (e) arrangements for purchase of property off plan and prior to construction, (f) arrangements for land registration, (g) curbs on the ability of vendors to negotiate with more than one potential purchaser, (h) further regulation of estate agents and mortgage arrangers, (i) further requirements on the disclosure by advisers of their relationship with others and (j) further restrictions on the content of property advertising; and to what extent in each case the proposals are consistent with his Department's deregulation initiative;
(7) if he will make a statement indicating the position of Her Majesty's Government on those provisions of the report "Information and Protection of Transactions concerning Immovable Property purchased by Consumers" which deal with (a) further restrictions relating to guarantees of construction standard, (b) further regulation of joint ownership, leasehold and service charge arrangements, (c) creation of new pan-European bodies to regulate property purchase, (d) proposals to prevent market dominance by building societies and banks in lending for property purchase and (e) attempts to limit commission rates for sale of property; and to what extent in each case the proposals are consistent with his Department's deregulation initiative.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answers 21 March 1994]: My Department has received from a trade association a copy of this report to the European Commission. It has not been asked by the Commission to comment nor consulted industry, though representations have been received from the House Builders Federation. It is important that, if consideration is given to Community legislation on property transactions, full account is taken of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and of the need to avoid imposing unnecessary burdens on business. This view will be communicated to the Commission.
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