Q&A: HIPs
Updated on 07 March 2008
The government's controversial Home Information Packs have been branded a "waste of time" after research into the pilot phase of the packs was released.
What are HIPs?
Home Information Packs were introduced in England and Wales for some properties in August last year and rolled out for all properties from December.
They include copies of title deeds, any recent planning permission or building consent given on the property, a local area search and an energy performance certificate which provides information on how to improve the 'green' credentials of the property.
What about a structural survey?
Originally HIPS did include a survey, and the packs which the government used in its research do. Since the research was carried out, however, the survey has been dropped from the packs.
How useful have HIPs been to buyers?
The government's research shows that 80 per cent of home-buyers either never saw the HIP, or saw it too late and only seven per cent of buyers said the packs had helped them decide whether to buy a property.
Why is the information provided by HIPs not considered useful?
One of the main problems with the information provided by HIPs is that it is not considered reliable by buyers, their solicitors or mortgage lenders. This means that not only is the information quickly out of date, it is also redundant if a buyer must carry out the same searches a second time because they don't trust the information provided by the seller.
What does the housing minister Caroline Flint say?
She insists that a public awareness campaign has been launched since the trials last year and that estate agents have been reminded of their responsibility to hand out the packs. She also claims that the research shows 72 per cent of sellers were satisfied with the packs.
What does the shadow housing minister Grant Shapps say?
"These results reveal what we and the industry have known all along, HIPs are a complete waste of time.
"With six out of 10 buyers not even seeing the pack and a third not realising they had a HIP at all it is proving to be a very costly and bureaucratic farce."
What does the Lib Dem housing spokesman Lembit Opik say?
He wants to know why the findings from the pilots had not been released before the scheme was introduced for all sales across England and Wales in December.
Has anything positive come from the research?
The fact that a third of buyers said they planned on implementing "green" measures suggested in the Energy Performance Certificate aliment of the pack could be seen a s a success.
