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House of Lords questions Hips

Tuesday, 1 May 2007 12:00 AM

On the day a survey revealed the general public was largely ignorant about the new home information packs (full story), the House of Lords has also voiced its concerns.

A report by the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee, which comes with one month to go until Hips become compulsory, states the packs have drawn "special attention" as they may "imperfectly achieve" what they set out to do.

"The comments on these proposals which we have received from interested parties show at best scepticism, and at worst hostility," the report says.

"The government have not been able to convince the principal stakeholders in the housing market that their proposals as they now stand are sensible or worthwhile, or are likely to be effective for their declared purposes; and they need to do more if the market is to respond positively to this intervention."

The National Association of Estate Agents, one of the strongest campaigners for Hips to be reviewed, said: "It is clear that the committee has serious concerns about the proposals and we would encourage the government to take this on board."

However, the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (Ahipp) said the House of Lords report did not represent "a balanced and fair review" as "a number of industry players including Ahipp, Copso (Council of Property Search Organisations) and key environmental groups" had not been consulted.

Mike Ockenden, Ahipp director general, said: "Hips trials have taken place across the UK over many months and they have provided evidence of improved efficiency in the market as a result . . . transaction failures fell eight per cent and the time between offer exchange was cut by an average of 11 days, as a result of Hips."

He added: "If there was one element of the recent report that I would support, it is the importance of the Home Condition Report (HCR) and we will continue to lobby government for a route map to re-instating the HCR as a mandatory element of the pack within a given timeframe."

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