Despite the mass of media coverage Home Information Packs (HIPs) generated prior to their introduction last year, little has been said by comparison since the packs finally rolled out to all properties in mid-December 2007.
Yet, the debate around how effective HIPs are rages on, with continuing calls from opposing parties to scrap the entire system. The Conservatives have even said they will attempt to force a vote on abandoning HIPs.
In addition to this, the majority of new build properties will also require HIPs from 6 April, bringing renewed concern from the industry.
There is a worry that inspectors will not be prepared to handle these packs, as new builds do not need a traditional search, meaning the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) structure will vary greatly from those in standard HIPs.
A war of words
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) in particular continues to vocally oppose the packs, recently accusing the government of putting a good spin on HIP research figures and covering up the true impact of the packs on the house selling process.
The government said 72 per cent of consumers were satisfied with the packs and a third planned to carry out recommendations in the EPC. The NAEA countered that the details in the report showed only 29 per cent of sellers who sold a property with a HIP felt it made the process more efficient and 41 per cent of buyers thought that a HIP made the buying process more difficult.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, says: “The government’s recent MORI trials research certainly didn’t win it any friends.
"The report claimed that few buyers saw the HIP during the trials. In the release, the blame for this is laid squarely at the agent’s door. However, as of January 68 per cent of our members have had no requests at all to see a HIP and only 4 per cent have received more than 10 requests.
“The problems surrounding HIPs will continue long into this year with the advent of first-day marketing in July, another issue we are fighting hard against. This will mean that a house cannot go on the market until it has a HIP. In some areas this could mean a significant delay in a housing market that is not as buoyant as it once was and could cause problems for both vendors and buyers as it lengthens an already lengthy process.”
Dismissing negativity
However, the suggestion that the market is being negatively affected by HIPs is dismissed by Dominic Toller, director of market and new business for LMS, who says: “From our perspective, it’s been a slow start, largely because the market has been slow. We have found that a number of estate agents have taken a while to get used to the process. That’s largely been resolved now and we have seen a substantial change in agents’ understanding of what’s required.”
However, Toller said the most disappointing aspect around HIPs is that there is still very little broker interest. He explains: “We are not seeing a huge amount of broker activity in instructing HIPs. I think it’s because they don’t need to and often the client will speak to the estate agent before the broker.
"Brokers need to be more proactive in seeking HIPs business. I would have thought brokers would have been hungrier to develop alternative income sources.
“It’s easy to tell that HIPs have had no impact on the market whatsoever. So many things are driving the market at the moment, but HIPs isn’t one of them. If anything, it has stopped people putting their houses on the market that weren’t really looking to sell and that’s got to be a good thing.”
Lies, damn lies and statistics
Of course, it is nigh on impossible to accurately say whether HIPs have influenced the market negatively or positively because of the current global problems with liquidity.
The government’s research did little to allay fears – as Disraeli said there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Who knows what the results would have been in a ‘normal’ market.
At the end of the day, whatever your opinion of them, HIPs are a reality the market must deal with and is an opportunity for brokers to exploit.
