News Home Information Packs could be scrapped welcomed

The new coalition government are expected to make an announcement this week that Home Information Packs (HIPs) are to be scrapped.

The news has been broadly welcomed by many including National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) however, their chief executive, Peter Bolton King, warned that failure to implement the decision quickly would confuse consumers and the housing market.

The NAEA has long campaigned for HIPs to be scrapped, arguing that they have failed to benefit home buyers and actively discouraged sellers. The initial agreement between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties committed the coalition government to the “retention of energy performance certificates while scrapping HIPs”.

Mr Bolton King said: “This is great news for the housing market and for house buyers, few of whom have paid much attention to these pointless packs.

“It is also good news for sellers, who will no longer need to shell out hundreds of pounds for a piece of pointless regulation that benefits no one.

“But it is vital that the new Government acts on this commitment boldly, decisively and quickly. Sellers are not going to be prepared to spend hundreds of pounds now if they feel they won’t have to in a few months.

“The implications to the market of thousands of people suddenly deciding to hold off selling their home could be severe. We urge the Government to act now.”

May 19, 2010 >