HIPs Love them or Hate them

We have all read about HIPs over the last couple of months but what makes interesting reading is that the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents have commissioned a report to look at the impact of HIPs (Home Information Packs) since they were introduced 12 months ago.

The report was carried out by Sir Bryan Carsberg, a former Director General of Fair Trading.

Carsberg concludes that the contents of HIPs had been reduced to very little, despite their cost of on average £350, and that they should no longer be compulsory. Here are some quotes from his report.

"I understand that, to date, few buyers have shown an interest in the HIP, and a substantial number of conveyancers ignore its existence and recommission searches on receiving instructions from their buyer client, suggesting a lack of confidence in the limited content".

"This evidence alone indicates that the cost of HIPs is likely to exceed their benefits. Some would summarise the position by saying that the HIP provides the worst of all worlds – it omits much of the most useful information but still imposes significant costs on the property transaction".

"Even if HIPs were to become more comprehensive, there appears to be a strong likelihood that delays between the preparation of the pack and exchange of contracts would mean that much of the information would have become out of date by the time it was use".

Notwithstanding the report, the Department of Communities and Local Government has said there are no plans to scrap HIPs.