The axing of the controversial HIPs scheme, which comes into effect at midnight tonight (21 May), comes as no surprise, following the Conservative Party's vocal criticism of the scheme when it was introduced in December 2007.
Tangent Communications, one of the main printers of HIPs, said it would be largely unaffected by the decision to abolish the printed packs, of which 2.7m have been purchased since their introduction.
Joint chief executive Nicholas Green said the £17.5m-turnover company was "positive" about the future, adding that HIPs amounted to a "tiny" slice of Tangent's overall work.
The 150-staff company, which has sites in Newcastle, London and Cheltenham, had not bought any new kit specifically for the HIPs when it originally took on the work, he added.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said HIPs were now "history" and accused the scheme of "strangling" the housing market with red tape. However, the government will retain one element of the packs – the Energy Performance Certificate – which rates a property's energy efficiency and costs around £50.
It is not only HIPs that are in the coalition's firing line – ID cards are also being scrapped. Original plans by Labour for the compulsory cards, which it claimed would reduce ID and benefit fraud, were eventually watered down, making them voluntary. They were trialled in Manchester last May.
The coalition has branded the cards costly and an "erosion" of civil liberties.
Meanwhile, new chancellor George Osborne has plans to cut corporate tax to the lowest rate in the G20 within five years, sticking to his manifesto pledge to reduce the rate by 3% to 25% in next month's emergency budget.
In addition, ministers are targeting the part-privatisation of Royal Mail in order to attract private money, echoing Lord Mandelson's proposal last year, which was eventually dropped after a lack of support.
