AHIPP hits out at Conservative plans for HIPs
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Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps’ intention to scrap Home Information Plans flies in the face of global efforts to combat climate change through reduced carbon emissions, says The Association of Home Information Pack Providers.
Recently released figures from National Energy Services show that if EPC recommendations were actioned, household fuel bills could be reduced by £182 a year, with the potential to reduce total annual carbon emissions by 1.36 million tonnes. The report shows that 68% of consumers have actioned some form of recommendation in their EPC, when included in a HIP as part of the home buying process.
Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, says: “As world leaders, leading scientists and government officials gather in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to seal an international agreement, Grant Shapps proposes a policy that will actively lose the carbon emission reductions already being made in domestic properties.”
The NES report is just the latest in a string of reports indicating how important it is to have mandatory delivery of the EPC says Ockenden. The evidence from Northern Ireland, where there are no HIPs, shows there is a 45% non-compliance rate in obtaining EPCs on the sale of residential properties. This starkly demonstrates that where there is no requirement to have a HIP consumers do not see their EPC and therefore are denied the opportunity to act upon the advice to reduce the carbon emissions from their property.
Ockenden adds: “Grant Shapps is out of touch with the spirit of Copenhagen in his continued pursuit of a policy to scrap HIPs. HIPs are a vital instrument for any incoming Government in delivering carbon reductions and encouraging energy efficiency through their inclusion of the EPC. Without the legal requirement for a HIP the benefits of carbon emission reductions that EPCs bring are lost.”
Readers' comments (10)
Anonymous | 11 Dec 2009 11:51 am
So the primary justification for HIPs is the energy report? I assume AHIPP will therefore be campaigning to get rid of all of the other unnecessary aspects of the HIP? Unlikely perhaps!
Strange how an interested party will use any angle they can just to justify their existence
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Richard Mathias | 11 Dec 2009 5:43 pm
This is a pathetic argument Mike - you know full well they will scrap hips but keep the epc which is the only element that may help reduce emmissions. As I have said for 2 years the searches need to come out of hips because they go out of date often before a buyer is found. Start looking for another job Mike and stop trying to fleece DEA's for subscriptions to FPIP
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Anonymous | 11 Dec 2009 7:22 pm
The sooner HIPS and EPC's are scrapped the better it will be for all, other than those who have an interest in maintaining the lie that they are actually wanted by buyers or sellers.
If the costs of obtaining HIPS and EPC's could be avoided purchasers and vendors would be able to spend the money wasted on such basic reports in actually upgrading their properties thus reducing their carbon footprint instead of paying what is merely just another totally unnecessary stealth tax.
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John Tidswell | 11 Dec 2009 7:24 pm
I agree it has done nothing to speed up the house buying process. Let the vendors and buyers decide if they want a EPC report.
From what I have seen the money would be better spent on insulation. The sooner HIPs are dispensed with the better.
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Graham Thompson | 14 Dec 2009 11:17 am
Nobody with half a brain could object to the EPC. However, the rest of it should disappear without trace - asap!
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Anonymous | 14 Dec 2009 4:10 pm
Really? Mr Schapps knows nothing?? I have had the absolute misfortune to not only work in the property industry, but to have been both a seller and a purchaser recently. The HIPs are useless, with the exception of the EPC, which Mr Ockenden very well knows will be kept. Get a grip man!!!
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Anonymous | 14 Dec 2009 5:04 pm
So a company that is based on HIPs doesn`t want them scrapped? Shocking!
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Anonymous | 15 Dec 2009 7:59 am
I for one cannot wait for the end of HIPs.
Some of the Local searches in the worst examples are 90% fabricated and therefore neither serve the seller or the buyer.
When the onus returns to home buyers to decide what type of search they choose, just see how few will want to pay for the sort of made up uneducated rubbish that has been keeping HIP providers in a profit for the last two years.
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Dave Green | 15 Dec 2009 11:00 am
Mike Ockenden's comments are disengenuous. When HIPs were first proposed, AHIPP was keen to point out how they'd uncover hidden problems with properties. The EPC was never mentioned.
When the Home Condition Report was dropped from HIPS, AHIPP changed their tune and told us how they'd speed up exchanges. EPC was still not a part of it.
When it became clear that there were serious issues with the legal information contained in most HIPs (and that many solicitors would just do the same searches anyway), the scales dropped from Ockenden's eyes and he suddenly became an eco-warrier. AHIPP became keen to push the hitherto-unmentioned EPC as being a key part of the package.
It's comical to see Ockenden trying to claim the ecological high-ground.
The EPC will remain, HIP or no HIP. EPCs are an EU requirement. HIPs will soon be consigned to history as an expensive mistake.
I think Ockenden needs to get his CV ready rather than continue fighting this increasingly desperate rearguard action.
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Anonymous | 19 Jan 2010 10:17 am
To all those of you who are demanding that EPC's should be scrapped along with HIP's or that property owners should choose whether to have one or not. It would be better if you kept your comments to yourself until you actually know what you are talking about. Its bad enough having polititions that don't know what they are talking about never mind you lot. EPC's are European Legislation and will be staying whether you like it or not. The Conservatives aren't keeping them out of the goodness of their heart or because its one of their ideas or mandates. They have to keep them. Get used to it. And as for the price of them? There are that many DEA's now you can get one for virtually nothing. So stop your bleating and try a bit of research. Then you might have something intelligent to say.
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