HIPs cost £500 but 90% ignore them
By Damian Clarkson 6th November
2007
Nine out of ten homebuyers don’t even bother to read their Home Information Packs
(HIP), which are a “complete waste of time”, claim estate agents Spicerhaart.
If true, it will come as an embarrassing blow to the government, which is hoping
HIPs will prove the catalyst for people to make their homes more energy efficient
and speed up the home buying process.
It would also indicate buyers are viewing the packs as little more than a grudge
purchase in order to avoid a fine or penalty.
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Haphazard, Irrelevant Pain?
“HIPs are an absolute waste of time, viewed overwhelmingly as an irrelevance and
an unnecessary cost. Our figures show a complete rejection by buyers,” says Spicerhaart
CEO Paul Smith.
He also calls on the government to either scrap the packs completely, or immediately
extend them to all properties on the market – at present it is limited to just three
and four bedroom homes.
“The whole debacle should be written off as a mistake. This should help restore
consumer confidence. If the government is hell-bent in pursuing HIPs, it must make
a decision now to extend the roll out to all properties to stop the imbalance in
the market and remove confusion.”
“The worst possible scenario is to allow the market to carry on as it is with a
half implemented initiative which is proving to be of no use to the house buying
and selling process.”
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Everyone has an agenda
Now, it’s worth noting that these comments come from an estate agent, whose aim
is to maximise the number of houses bought and sold every month. So it’s hardly
surprising that it is choosing to lambaste anything that it views as an obstacle
to achieving that aim.
Equally unsurprising is the fact that the Association of Home Information Pack Providers
(AHIPP) disagrees with Spicerhaart’s conclusions. Deputy director general Paul Broadhead
says consumers are not avoiding HIPs, but instead they simply aren’t being properly
informed of their availability.
"As far as AHIPP is concerned, it is too early to make any firm conclusions about
the way consumers use HIPs as we are only half way through the rollout of HIPs into
the market since August 1st,” says Broadhead.
"Consumers are not, not reading HIPs out of choice - they are simply not being advised
that a HIP is available in a large number of cases. Buyers are not being given a
HIP automatically, instead they have to request it specifically from the estate
agent - so this figure does not surprise me.”
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Consistency is the key
One thing both parties agree on is that the current system, where only certain types
of homes require a pack, needs to change as soon as possible.
"The government should act now to roll out HIPs to the whole market so consumers
are not confused over whether a property should have a HIP or not," says Broadhead.
The government has set a January 1st deadline for this, and it will be fascinating
to see the public’s reaction.
So vehement has been their opposition to the packs’ roll out so far that some seller’s
have taken to advertising their three bedroom homes as 'two bedrooms and a study’
purely to avoid them. Certain consumer groups have even claimed that HIPs could
be the catalyst for a housing market crash.
And while that seems unlikely, there’s certain to be plenty more criticism of the
packs as the final deadline draws near. Expect to see fireworks of a different kind
come the New Year.
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Article produced by EveryInvestor.co.uk
