Scrapping controversial Home Information Packs has given a boost to the supply of houses for sale in Kent and Medway.

That's the verdict of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in its latest UK housing market survey.

Home Information Packs for every home on the market were made compulsory by the previous government, but were axed in one of the first major decisions by the new coalition government.

Critics always claimed that they deterred owners from putting their homes on the market speculatively.

Others said they were a waste of time and money.

Now surveyors report that the decision to abolish HIPs has pushed up supply in the county, with most reporting a rise in new instructions, a trend they expect to continue - in the near term.

More than 70 per cent of surveyors nationally expect the decision on HIPs to lead to higher levels of new instructions with the actual increase in supply anticipated to be around 15 per cent.

Despite fear of cuts, many surveyors in Kent are considerably more optimistic than last month.

RICS South East director Amanda Gardiner 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 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."

A majority of RICS members in Kent also report that house prices in the region have risen, unlike other areas of the country where they have fallen.