Government was not properly prepared for rollout of HIPs
October 1, 2008
HIPs – Home Information Packs – have been at the centre of controversy since they were introduced in the summer of last year, and a number of problems have been encountered since the government introduced the packs. One of the main problems was that HIPs were meant to apply to all residential properties that were marketed for sale in England and Wales from June of last year. However, the government ended up rolling out implementation of HIPs based on property size, and HIPs did not apply to all properties until the middle of December 2007.
One group of MPs is now claiming that there was little preparation for the rollout of HIPs, and that the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) lost its nerve and did not deliver with regards to Home Information Packs.
Government officials have allegedly claimed that the stage by stage process used to implement HIPs was used on purpose to make the whole process smoother, but a report released by the group of MPs claims that this was not the case.
According to the report people did not want to pay to train “for jobs the government would not guarantee would exist” after the government claimed that it was a lack of trained officers that also affected the implementation of HIPs to all properties.
The report also suggested that the earnings potential for trained officers was reduced because HIPs were slimmed down. According to the report: “There were not enough inspectors because CLG first watered down and then repeatedly delayed the introduction of Hips.”
The Housing Minister recently stated: “It was not possible to introduce Hips in June 2007 because of the RICS legal action against the energy performance certificate and, due to the resulting uncertainty, the number of assessors available. And we made a deliberate decision to phase the roll-out in order to ensure smooth implementation.”
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