Home information packs 'should be abolished'

Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:00 AM

Home information packs (HIPs) are unworkable and should be abolished with the exception of the energy rating certificate.

That is the view of estate agents who believe it is "nonsense" to make part of the packs voluntary and part compulsory.

Following a U-turn by the government last month, the home condition report (HCR) - a form of mini survey that would have been a key part of the home information pack - will only be a voluntary part of the packs, which become mandatory for anyone selling a home from June 2007.

The packs will still contain an energy rating certificate, which will soon be required under European law, and a number of legal documents needed to sell a home.

The government hopes homeowners will voluntarily opt to get a home condition report when selling their property and that over time they will become an integral part of the buying and selling process.

Providers of home information packs say they have received assurances from the government that the mandatory roll-out of the home condition report is still on the table if voluntary take-up is unsuccessful.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has consistently argued that home information packs were not the way to improve the home buying and selling process.

And without the home condition report, it questions whether the rest of it - other than the energy rating - is really worthwhile.

"Whatever anyone might think about the whole concept of HIPs, it is nonsense to make only part voluntary," said NAEA chief executive Peter Bolton King.

"The majority of the remaining compulsory documents are, at best, often unnecessary before a sale is agreed and, at worst, unintelligible without legal interpretation or likely to become out of date."

Estate agents say there is little evidence that sales fall through as a result of legal, title or search problems, so there is no need to insist on this information being made available prior to a sale being agreed.

The imminent introduction of 'E-conveyancing', which will speed up the conveyancing process, will further negate the need for having information, which could become out-of-date, available up front.

As for carrying out the energy rating certificate, the NAEA says there should be a separate stand-along qualification which estate agents can obtain and therefore accredit a property at the time they are placing it on the market.

"The government should now take the bull by the horns and make the decision to repeal the introduction of HIPs and return to the drawing board," Mr Bolton King added.

"The association remains totally committed to work with the government to improve the buying and selling process for the benefit of consumers. I would again ask the government to sit down with us and consider how this can be achieved."

Home information pack providers will be introducing the packs on a trial basis in six locations in England later this year.

The home condition report will be part of the pack offered to home sellers in Southampton, Newcastle, Northampton, Bath, Huddersfield and Cambridge.

Paul Broadhead, deputy director of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, said: "The government has clearly indicated that it very much supports HIPs and values the HCR as a vital element of the pack."

Home information packs will be mandatory for anyone who puts their house up for sale after June 1st 2007.

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