House of Lords requests Hips review

The House of Lords has told the government the implementation of home information packs (Hips) should be kept under constant review.

The scheme is due to be rolled out to include all properties in England and Wales from tomorrow, December 14th.

However, the controversy surrounding the policy has been acknowledged by the House of Lords, which now argues implementation of the new regulations needs to be closely monitored to ensure there are not unnecessary regulatory burdens on home sellers.

In its fifth report on the subject the Lords’ merits of statutory instruments committee said: "We consider it will be important for the government to keep the implementation of this policy under review and to provide full information about the practical effects of its introduction."

While concluding the implementation of the policy has been a success to date, the committee acknowledged the process had been divisive.

"The introduction of Hips has not only been opposed by certain vested interests but has also become political and they have been the subject of much misinformation," continued the committees report.

The request for the policy to be kept under review was seen as an admission of failure by some however.

"The House of Lords report shows that the introduction of Hips has been far from successful," said a spokesperson for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

"By how much [the scheme is perceived to fail] we don't know, due to the housing minister's failure to produce any evidence from the failed pilots."

The government was also attacked for its decision not to include home condition reports (HCR) in the scheme.

HCRs would have been written in plain English, in a standard format, giving details of a property; taking into account its age, character and location, how energy efficient it is and any defects or other matters requiring attention.

"It is clear however, that without the HCR, Hips are a waste of time and consumer's money," concluded the Rics spokesperson.