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Estate agent says Hips will cause house price crash

Tuesday, 15 May 2007 12:00 AM

The head of a major estate agency firm has said the implementation of home information packs (Hips) in June will cause a house price crash.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Spicerhaart Group said the packs will be responsible for a repeat of the 1991 house price crash.

Mr Smith's comments come ahead of a House of Commons debate on Hips tomorrow.

The packs are widely opposed in their current form by major stakeholders in the property market, including the NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents), Rics (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and the Law Society, despite less than three weeks remaining until they become mandatory.

Mr Smith commented: "The current legislation is in a mess and will prevent immediate marketing of homes affecting buyers and sellers alike. The mandatory requirement to have a full EPC in place prior to marketing will delay the process by weeks, as there are simply not enough trained energy assessors.

"We are calling for the government to allow interim energy assessments to be used for all properties. These can be carried out by estate agents using a simple computer model, very much like that used by mortgage lenders to estimate property values.

"This straightforward change will ensure properties can be put on the market without delay.

"Once the property is on the market, an authoritative energy performance certificate could be provided. This interim energy assessment will provide enough information to market the property from day one. Unless the government relaxes this legislation it will have a housing crash on it hands on June 1st."

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