The Homes Bill is officially in limbo. Following Tuesday's announcement that the general election is to be held in June, the House of Lord's confirmed that the Homes Bill will not receive Royal Assent before the dissolution of Parliament. The Bill is one of seven that is being abandoned with just two days' parliamentary business left because the Government cannot get its legislation through without the agreement of Tory and Liberal Democrat peers. So what will the future hold for the much talked about seller's pack?

There is no doubt that the seller's pack has had a bumpy ride along the way to its position on the brink of becoming law. The packs have been the subject of a lot of criticism and the lack of popular support for the legislation is being seen in some quarters as potentially damaging, the result of which may be that the proposals drop down the priority list, at least until the general election is well out of the way.

Despite the unpopularity of certain aspects of the Homes Bill, especially those relating to the seller's pack, most observers had expected it to become law by the time the country voted for a new government. This has failed to happen and the conservatives have definitely played their part in scuppering the plans.

This week, the Tories were accused of a stubborn refusal to compromise on certain aspects of the bill, though the allegations were rejected by Conservative party spokesperson Nigel Waterson, who said: "The Government introduced the Bill in early February and the legislation could have easily completed all its stages and received Royal Assent by now. Yet Labour have called the election a year earlier than necessary and have failed to give the Bill sufficient parliamentary time."

However, this follows the publication by the conservatives earlier in the year of a 10-point plan called "Common sense for homeowners", in which Tories outlined their main objections to the Labour housing policies. The fact that this included a resolution to do their "utmost to block the seller's packs in Parliament", is some indication of a concerted effort to hamper the passage of the Bill.

The general thrust of the seller's pack legislation has a number of powerful advocates. Speeding up the homebuying process, lessening the risk of gazumping and highlighting the existence and remedial cost of defects at the start of proceedings are three of the most trumpeted benefits of the packs.

Should the Bill fail to make it onto the agenda in the next parliament, this would be a major blow to homebuyers, according to Michael Chambers, director of policy at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He said: "If the Homes Bill does not go ahead, buyers will lose out on the two major benefits that the Bill gives: ending the necessity to 'buy blind' to make an offer without having undertaken surveys and searches; and speeding up the buying process, so that there is less time during which gazumping can take place."

Although virtually nobody objects to the driving motivation behind the seller's packs, there have been countless critics of the way the solution is proposed to be implemented. Critics have included high profile figures from sorts of vested industries, including the law society, the National Association of Estate agents and some members of the labour party.

The main criticisms of the scheme can be summed up as follows:

• Not enough consultation took place while the proposals were being devised
• The small scale of the trials and the high demand at the time of their taking place will have distorted the results
• Failure to prepare a sellers pack will criminalise agents and vendors who do not have them in place when a house comes onto the market
• The legislation doesn't adequately address the problem of chains
• The cost of the packs is disproportionately high for those in areas where property prices are low
• Lack of compatibility between the conditional report and the lender's basic valuation
• Buyers will not trust a pack put together by the vendors

Obviously, nothing can happen to the legislation in the immediate future. If Labour does get re-elected then the Bill could still follow legislative procedure and be passed after the election in its current format. Despite the criticism, the government seems to be unwavering in its commitment to passing the bill.However, the likely election victory will likely bring some new faces to the cabinet, some of whom may not be keen to pass the Bill as it stands today.

The government has already backtracked slightly and agreed to look at exemptions from mandatory inclusion of seller's packs where the cost of the pack is more than 10 percent of the value of the property, or in areas where there is low demand. Don't be surprised to see certain aspects of it put on hold as fresh faces encourage further consultation to remedy some of the problems that seem to exist in the current legislation.

In the unlikely event that Labour do not win a second term, then it is likely that the Bill would be scrapped altogether. The Tories will no doubt be keen to introduce their own agenda and picking up unpopular labour legislation is not likely to be high on their list of priorities.

Next week, this feature will focus on a possible answer to the seller's pack situation. It is a product that is already on the market and one which the company behind it says, addresses all of the main criticisms of the government's proposed solution.