The Government has come under fire after it declined to publish details of opinion surveys on six areas trialling Home Information Packs.

Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps said the decision not to release the poll ahead of the launch of the first HIPs indicates that it shows the scheme is unpopular.

It has also emerged that the results of the Mori study have even not been given to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, which worked alongside the Government in the areas involved in the £4m pilot.

AHIPP director general Mike Ockenden said in a letter: "Part of the agreement with Government was that they would share the independent research by Mori from the six locations with us. They have not done so."

Back in June, Mr Shapps tabled a request in Parliament for the results of the area trials, but was told by housing minister Yvette Cooper that they will not be available until the end of the year.

He said: "The Government has squandered £4m of taxpayers' money undertaking trials on their pet project of Home Information Packs, but when the results failed to show any benefits in burdening home buyers and sellers with HIPs, the Government simply buried the Mori research and went ahead with the new red tape anyway.

"Now even the Government's own HIP partner has revealed that the housing minister won't share the area trial findings. So the Government has spent our money, yet won't let anyone see the outcome of this HIPs pilot.

"Gordon Brown promised open government, but they've never changed from their old ways of burying bad news and ignoring the research when it doesn't suit them. I call on the Government to suspend three and four-bedroom HIPs and scrap plans to burden house-sellers with HIPs on one and two-bed homes."

But a Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "The area trials looked particularly at Home Condition Reports, which are not a requirement in HIPs.

"In order to assess their impact, the full transaction needs to be monitored, which of course takes time and the feedback of buyers and sellers. The results will be available once the work is completed."

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