HIPs on Hold
Well they finally backed down. On Tuesday 22nd May the government gave in to overwhelming public and legal pressure to delay the introduction of the controversial Home Information Packs (HIPS) until the 1st August 2007.
The final nail in the coffin occurred when a judge, ruling on a legal challenge from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said the energy performance certificates should be left out of the packs “ for the time being”. This caused the inevitable delay that Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly announced to MP’s.
RICS member Matthew Allen of Banbury Agents Fisher German welcomed the delay saying ‘I fully support the action our Institution is taking in seeking a judicial review for what has been a very controversial and poorly planned piece of legislation. The Energy Certificates are welcomed but further training and consultation is required before the legislation should be introduced.’
Mr Allen went on to say that ‘We mustn’t forget that people have invested a huge amount of time and money in the launch of these packs and to pull the plug on it now, even temporarily is unforgivable. Even more confusingly is at the delayed start date of the 1st August the scheme will only affect larger houses of four or more bedrooms. The scheme will then be phased in to cover all homes but no guidelines have been set for this at present.’
He continues tt is worth noting how we got to this position. HIPS were originally designed to simplify and speed up the house buying process. Particularly, due to the dropping of the Home Condition Report element last year, the conclusion of consultation that this is now unlikely to be achieved. HIPS are now being pushed through on the back of the environmental benefits of the Energy Performance Certificates which nobody seems to disagree with.
Mr Allen concluded that ‘If this legislation is not properly introduced this could potentially shake the property market, which may have much wider economic implications affecting the whole economy so therefore a delay is welcomed.’
For more information on HIPS or any other property agency related matter do not hesitate to contact the Banbury office on 01295 271555 or email matthew.allen@fishergerman.co.uk
- Ashby de la Zouch
- 01530 412821
- Banbury
- 01295 271 555
- Knutsford
- 01565 757970
- Market Harborough
- 01858 410 200
- Newark
- 01949 851815
- Southampton
- 02380 883150
- Stafford
- 01785 220 044
- Worcester
- 01905 453275
