(1)Where a potential buyer makes a request to a responsible person for a copy of the home information pack, or of a document (or part of a document) which is or ought to be included in that pack, it is the duty of the responsible person to comply with that request within the permitted period.
(2)The responsible person does not comply with that duty unless—
(a)he provides the potential buyer with a document which is—
(i)a copy of the home information pack for the property as it stands at the time when the document is provided, or
(ii)a copy of a document (or part of a document) which is included in that pack,
as the case may be; and
(b)that pack or document complies with the requirements of any regulations under section 163 at that time.
(3)In subsection (2) “the home information pack” means the home information pack intended by the responsible person to be the one required by section 155.
(4)That duty does not apply if, before the end of the permitted period, the responsible person believes on reasonable grounds that the person making the request—
(a)is unlikely to have sufficient means to buy the property in question;
(b)is not genuinely interested in buying a property of a general description which applies to the property; or
(c)is not a person to whom the seller is likely to be prepared to sell the property.
Nothing in this subsection authorises the doing of anything which constitutes an unlawful act of discrimination.
(5)Subsection (4) does not apply if the responsible person knows or suspects that the person making the request is an officer of an enforcement authority.
(6)That duty does not apply where the responsible person is the seller if, when the request is made, the duty under section 155 does not (by virtue of subsection (2) of that section) apply to him.
(7)But where the duty under this section is excluded by subsection (6), it is the duty of the seller to take reasonable steps to inform the potential buyer that the request should be made to the other person.
(8)The responsible person may charge a sum not exceeding the reasonable cost of making and, if requested, sending a paper copy of the pack or document.
(9)The permitted period for the purposes of this section is (subject to section 157(5)) the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the request is made.
(10)If the responsible person ceases to be responsible for marketing the property before the end of the permitted period (whether because the property has been taken off the market or sold or for any other reason), he ceases to be under any duty to comply with the request.
(11)A person does not comply with the duty under this section by providing a copy in electronic form unless the potential buyer consents to receiving it in that form.