Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive at the National Association of Estate Agents, is calling on the Government to abolish the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) by repealing part 5 of the Housing Act. He calls on the Government to recognise that what is left of HIPs is unworkable now the Home Condition Report (HCR) is not mandatory, and work with the Association to find other ways of improving the property buying and selling process.
He recommends all aspects of HIPs apart from the energy rating certificate, which is a requirement of European legislation, should be revoked.
Peter Bolton King comments: "Whatever anyone might think about the whole concept of HIPs, it is nonsense to make only part voluntary. The majority of the remaining compulsory documents are, at best, often unnecessary before a sale is agreed and, at worst, unintelligible without legal interpretation or likely to become out of date. In any case the advent of quick E Conveyancing removes much of the need for the legal part of a HIP anyway. The Government should now take the bull by the horns and make the decision to repeal the introduction of HIPs and return to the drawing board. The Association remains totally committed to work with Government to improve the buying and selling process for the benefit of consumers. I would again ask the Government to sit down with us and consider how this can be achieved."
