Housing minister Yvette Cooper has defended the controversial Home Information Packs, which come into force for some properties on Wednesday.

Cooper said the packs, known as Hips, would make house buying faster and easier to understand.

From Wednesday anyone selling a home with four or more bedrooms must compile a pack, which includes energy performance certificates, standards searches and evidence of title.

The government was forced to delay the scheme's implementation from June following a legal challenge from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Conservative opposition.

It decided to phase the scheme in from August, starting with larger properties.

Speaking on GMTV, Cooper said: "The first thing they do is just bring together the information that you have to get anyway and you have to pay for anyway, but at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end, so it speeds the process up and makes it clearer.

"The second thing they do, which I think is really important, is that they provide an energy rating - it is like a fridge rating for your home, you get it on a washing machine, all the white goods.

"Given the amount of money we all put into our homes, it is right that we should have this kind of rating on our home as well. It will tell you how to cut your fuel bills for the future."

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps, who on Wednesday was meeting with TV property expert Kirstie Allsopp to criticise the packs, said: "Home Information Packs threaten to bring the whole rule of law into disrepute, by opening the door to widespread avoidance and evasion.

"It is clear that individual homeowners could end up breaking the rules out of genuine confusion or by exploiting the numerous loopholes in the ever-more convoluted and complex regulations."