End this madness on HIPs, demand experts

By Sarah O'Grady
Posted: 2008/08/26

THE housing market slowdown has prompted industry experts to repeat demands for a radical review of the controversial Home Information Packs.

HIPs are "not fit for purpose" and ministers must go back to the drawing board, estate agents and surveyors urged yesterday.

The £700 packs were introduced last year to speed up the buying and selling process and cut the number of sales falling through.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, said: "The Government tried to force square pegs into round holes and the slower property market is making this situation worse.

"For the packs to include local searches is madness as, due to the length of time property is currently taking to sell, the majority of searches are out of date by the time a transaction takes place.

"These searches have to be carried out again at an extra cost."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said an HIP should not have to be in place before a property was put on the market.

It also called for legal searches to be taken out of the packs "and left to buyers and their advisers to obtain at the appropriate time".

A Communities and Local Government spokesman said it was considering "enhancing the HIP".