The abolition of Home Information Packs by the new coalition government has boost the number of new homes coming on to the market, according to the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors survey.
Almost three quarters of surveyors said the decision to scrap HIPs would result in more homes being put up for sale, with an average predicted increase in supply of 15%.
The survey found that house prices continued to rise, with 22% more surveyors reporting a rise than a fall during May, compared to 17% in April.
However, prices continued to stagnate in the West Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire, and Northern Ireland.
There was a slight increase in the balance of surveyors reporting more potential new buyers as well: 10%, up from 9% in April.
Rics spokesman Ian Perry said: "Surveyors are generally confident that sales will continue to pick up over the summer months.
"The increase in supply as a result of the the abolition of Hips is helping to support this optimism despite continuing concerns about mortgage finance. A higher level of instructions should, meanwhile, also lead to a flatter trend in house prices in the latter part of the year."
Sign up to our FREE email newsletters or subscribe to our RSS feed for regular updates on the latest construction news, construction tenders, construction data, and construction law.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
