Shadow housing minister thinks HIPs are a waste of time

 

March 31, 2008

In a recent statement the shadow housing minister has stated that the controversial Home Information Packs, which were introduced and implemented over the course of last year, are a waste of time. This comment comes after a recent trial showed that HIPs were not proving as effective as officials had hoped, largely because only one in every six potential property purchasers were seeing the pack before making an offer on the property.

Home Information Packs are now required for every residential property being marketed for sale in England and Wales, and since their introduction they have created a great deal of controversy amongst their supports and those opposed to the packs. Estate agents and other industry officials have claimed that HIPs are costly, time consuming, cause unnecessary delays, and have resulted in some homeowners being put off from selling their homes altogether.

The shadow housing minister recently said: ‘These results reveal what we and the industry have known all along, Hips are a complete waste of time. It is proving to be a very costly and bureaucratic joke. The Hip hasn’t made the process quicker or more certain, it has simply made it more expensive and choked in paperwork. It is the time this Government scrapped Hips once and for all.’

However, Caroline Flint, the housing minister still thinks that HIPs are effective, and said: ‘What is clear from the trials is more buyers wanted to see the Hip but it was not always made available to them. We have taken action to increase awareness of the right to see a Hip and to remind agents of their responsibility to provide one. Consumers are benefiting. Search costs are falling, first time buyers are receiving important information.’

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