Government confirms HIPs will be scrapped
Share
The new coalition government confirmed yesterday that it will be retaining energy performance certificates but scrapping Home Information Packs.
Mike Ockenden, director-general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers says it anticipates that the government will not act immediately.
He says: “It is not just as simple as scrapping HIPs. From our consultation with the government before the election we had agreed that a consultation on the subject would be the best approach.
“Scrapping HIPS would not be good for homeowners.”
But Paul Smith, chief executive of Spicerhaart, says : “Once Home Condition Reports were abandoned, HIPs became a pointless exercise. They didn’t stop time-wasting or sales falling through and the public showed no interest in looking at them whatsoever. The one saving grace of this failed Labour legislation is that EPCs are to be kept.
“As for the industry, we’re now in limbo land. Do we sell HIPs until the law is changed, or don’t we? We need a clear timetable for action and a period of transition to change all our software systems and paperwork. As usual, we’re the ones footing the bill for this ill-thought out mess.”
Quest, a major technology infrastructure supplier for Valuation, Energy Performance Certificate and Home Report technologies is urging the new Conservative-led coalition government to consider adopting a version of the Scottish Home Report in England and Wales.
James Sherwood-Rogers, managing director of Quest, says: “There would be real advantages of incorporating the contents of the Home Report in this new solution for England and Wales to deliver true transparency to consumers.
’It is also important to point out that there would be little cost difference for consumers, as the introduction of a condition survey would be in place of the legal searches. By adopting this tried and tested solution, we believe the new Government can quickly implement a solution that results in minimal disruption to the home buying and selling process, whilst maximising benefits for the consumer.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat
View results 10 per page | 20 per page
Readers' comments (16)
George Williamson | 13 May 2010 11:00 am
Bringing in HOME REPORTS in England & Wales (E&W), as we have them in Scotland would be good news as it would save both Buyers & Sellers a lot of money - currently in E&W Lenders control the Survey landscape, charging huge fees that are more than they actually pay the Surveying Firm. This "skimming" on Survey Fees is nothing more than another Lender Rip-off that should have been addressed by the FSA years ago. We in Scotland laugh at how much you get ripped off in E&W, because the same Lenders happily accept Home Reports on Scottish properties and charge no fee to use them.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Aless | 13 May 2010 11:05 am
Ill thought out at the start and ill advised now. The number of people who will be out of work as result is huge, considering the government is looking to drive the country out of the recession. I for one will be signing on straight away and filling my claim for housing benefit if they do scrap HIPs. Who's going to recompense my training and effort in setting up a new career and business. I'm sure many others in the industry will follow suit.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 13 May 2010 12:49 pm
Who is going to recompense you? Noone, you backed the wrong horse. Stop looking for someone to blame and look in the mirror, there you will see the person that made the mistake.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 13 May 2010 2:22 pm
Anon 12.49 - As harsh as your statement is unfortunately it is very true. However we have become a society of blame and compensation. Aless would you expect brokers to be reimbursed for the cost of CeMAP, CCL, network/FSA fees etc as a result of folded business due to the downturn - No. Dust yourself off and move on, put it down to a bad experience. Good luck.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 13 May 2010 2:42 pm
This is not about backing the wrong horse. The government brought in legislation and hundreds (if not thousands) of people went into business to provide this service. By scrapping HIPs the government will be making most of those people unemployed through no fault of their own. So much for supporting small businesses and increasing employment within the population. In one comment the coalition government have contradicted themselves on two counts and we are only on day 3 of the new government.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 13 May 2010 6:35 pm
About time , I have found the accuracy of certain reports to be very unreliable, so lets see them scrapped with immediate effect.
Next step for this government is the reversal of Housing Benefits being paid directly to tenants and direct to Landlords , this would encourage more Landlords to accomodate this type of tenancy.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Chris Bizzle | 13 May 2010 7:25 pm
Who will be responsible for carrying out the "possible" new Home Report? could there be a smooth transition from them that trained as HIP surveyors to be rebranded as Home Report surveyors? And would there be further training required
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
AP | 13 May 2010 8:16 pm
Very unfortunate for those HIP providers, but if you provide a product that nobody wants, you can't rely the government maintaining a false market.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Chris Holmes | 13 May 2010 10:18 pm
Scrapping HIPs may well be bad news but then one benefit will be that many of the EPC "brokering" panles will shut down as DEAs make local deals with agents. The panels have only served to drive down fees for EPCs to sub £30 levels. I tracked some jobs back and the route was Vendor, HIP Company, EPC Panel, EPC panel, DEA. No thats not a double entry the first panel was subbing work out to another panel!!!
So maybe one good thing to come out of the scrapping of HIPs will be the shake down of the outdated and costly panel system.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 14 May 2010 8:20 am
The home buying process in this country needs modernising. HIPs were an attempt, and would have been a greater success with the inclusion of a survey, as they would have become far more user friendly. The largest single purchase anyone can make in their life - yet many make it with their eyes closed, not knowing or noticing a thing about the property except the colour of the walls and the trendy lighting. The potential buyer would benefit from a 'user friendly' survey on a property, and we should use this to move toward a similar system as the scottish one.
It is fact that many other major countries in the world have this type of system in place, and helped by this - dont have the problems we do in the UK
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment