Industry seeks Hips review

Published 27th Aug 2008

Estate agents, surveyors and solicitors have joined forces to slam home information packs (Hips) as "unfit for purpose".

The collection of trade bodies have complained that consumers could be asked to pay twice for searches because of the six-month shelf life of the packs - many are going out of date before properties are sold in the current slow market.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) is calling on the government to get the "right information to the right person at the right time."

The rallying cry for reform comes as the industry consults on government changes to the packs, which currently include energy performance certificates and water and land searches among other voluntary documents.

Among the proposed reforms is dispensing with the rule that sellers must commission a Hip before putting a property on the market, and removing the land registry searches.

The creation of a modular home condition report, separate to the survey, is also proposed.

Gillian Charlesworth, Rics' director of external affairs, said: "There is a theory that most transactions fall down because of a lack of information, but more often it is the buyer changing his or her mind or a change in circumstances."

She added that the market is currently in an extremely low state and the trade bodies are seeking to reduce costs and duplication in the housing market.

The lobbying group, which also includes the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Law Society, put together the proposals and divided the legal information from what it calls the "consumer" information.

Rics said the latter should include the solicitor's questionnaire, including details such as the length of lease, the availability of parking or whether the property has ever been flooded. This should not be confused with a property valuation or survey, it added.
Impact assessment

It became mandatory for all home sellers to offer prospective buyers a Hip from December 14 2007.

A government consultation has already been launched to monitor the impact of the packs and is set to report in October.

Hips remain a political hot potato, but were designed to give clarity and transparency to the buying and selling process, and cut the number of transactions that collapse.

Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, said Hips have cross-sector support and those looking for changes are only protecting their own interests.

"There are five separate industries who are all making good money from the existing broken-down house buying and selling process. This is a thinly veiled attempt to keep things as they always were," he said.

A communities and local government spokesman said: "Hips are already bringing benefits to consumers by providing important information to help families cut their fuel bills and carbon emissions, and have reduced the price of property searches by increasing transparency in the homebuying and selling process."

The spokesman added: "We are continuing to work with stakeholders, including the NAEA, to consider how the process can be improved further, including through enhancing the Hip."

Source: ' guardian '

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