HIPs under fire from estate agents
April 29, 2008
The controversial Home Information Packs that were introduced last year by the government have come under fire yet again, this time by the estate agency industry.
These packs became compulsory on all residential properties being marketed for sale across England and Wales last December, having been rolled out on a stage by stage basis since last summer.
However, estate agency officials are stating that there are a number of problems with these packs. They claim that the packs are taking far longer to produce than was originally anticipated, with only one in eight being produced within the target of four or five working days.
Officials claim that around half of HIPs are taking over twelve days to produce, and a further 30% taking over fifteen days. Another problem is the cost, and estate agency officials say that over half of the packs cost more than the target cost of £350, with many costing over £500.
However, one government official speaking in favour of the packs said: ‘The average cost of a HIP is between £300 and £350 which, apart from the energy performance certificate, is already part of the buying and selling process. The most authoritative analysis of HIPs found 72% of consumers were satisfied with them.’
Written by Peter · Filed Under News Mortgages
The reason consumers are satisfied is that the government’s figures come from a survey following trials of the packs all of which were provided free! Will they be satified now that they have to pay? The government have no current proposals to carry out any further surveys.
How can this make sense? In a depressed market when estate agents are being forced to close Personal search companies are still making profits by carrying our searches on properties that are not selling. Money is being wasted as the longer properties stay on the market the more unreliable the information becomes, especially in relation to a property search.