BANBURY MP Tony Baldry has forecast chaos in the housing market when new selling rules come into effect in June.

Mr Baldry has said the Government is short of of housing inspectors who will be required to produce compulsory reports before a property can be put on the market.

From June 1, sellers must have a professional inspection survey, costing at least £500, carried out before estate agents can offer the property for sale.

Mr Baldry said: "So far the Government has only 1,000 qualified home inspectors for the entire UK.

"Yet under the Government's own estimates, they will need 7,429 inspectors to survey the 1.8m homes that come onto the market every year.

"This shortage comes despite the Government introducing the legislation to make home inspections compulsory as far back as 2004, and encouraging people to join training programmes through Learn Direct."

Mr Baldry has also said that no criminal record checks are being made on inspectors despite them having access to every aspect of homes, and that domestic energy inspectors, who are also able to do home reports, have yet to be accredited by the Government.

Mr Baldry said: "Ministers have so far refused to respond to a Parliamentary question asking how many inspectors there are for each local authority area, including Cherwell, despite the question being tabled repeatedly since March 21.

"There is only one inspector registered in Oxfordshire, and companies organising training have been unable to supply details on how many inspectors there are in Banbury and Bicester.

"There are also fears that with only a fraction of the qualified inspectors needed, the cost of a report will be at a premium, with inspectors able to charge as much as £1,000 to every home."

Mr Baldry has called on Local Government Minister Yvette Cooper MP to delay the introduction of the scheme.