The extension of Home Information Packs to cover smaller homes 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.

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

A survey showed 67 per cent of surveyors saw a fall in the number of new properties with three or more bedrooms put up for sale during October.