The coalition government has suspended the use of Home Information Packs (Hips) by home sellers.
Hips were introduced in 2007 in England and Wales.
The aim was to speed up the house selling process by obliging sellers to provide much of the required conveyancing information when properties are first put up for sale.
The packs are paid for by sellers and contain property information, title deeds, and local searches.
"Today the new government is ensuring that home information packs are history," said Housing Minister Grant Shapps.
"By suspending home information packs today, it means that home sellers will be able to get on with marketing their home without having to shell out hundreds of pounds upfront.
"We are committed to greener housing so from now on all that will be required will be a simple energy performance certificate," he added.
Jobs impact
The announcement was made by the government in its coalition document, but the Conservatives especially have long been opposed to the information packs.
The requirement for packs will be suspended for anyone selling their home from 21 May, with the government needing legislation to outlaw them completely.
The energy performance certificate, which ranks the energy efficiency of a home with A to G ratings, will be retained and must be produced by the seller within 28 days of putting a home on the market.
The burden of paying for searches from local authorities and search companies will now fall on house buyers, which could add to costs for first-time buyers.
The dramatic reduction in the Hips requirements could spell a round of redundancies among home inspectors - some of whom are self-employed.
The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) estimates that there are between 3,000 and 10,000 people whose livelihoods are either directly or indirectly dependent on Hips.
"We want to work with the government and we still want the consultation we have been promised. We are not suggesting that Hips should be retained. AHIPP has accepted that they will be scrapped," said Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP.
"We have been proposing for months that a legal or exchange ready pack be instructed at the start of the sales process. We think it would be crazy to throw the baby out with the bathwater and remove at a stroke all the good things that have come about with Hips, and the lessons we have learnt."
The association said it was now considering its options in the light of the decision.
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