Broker Jeff Diamond believed that estate agents did not want HIPs to work ‘because of the lucrative surveys and re-surveys they will lose if HIPs are allowed to work in the manner they were designed to’.
Diamond also claimed that he was in the process of moving house and the agent was very reluctant to obtain a HIP for him, saying his three-bedroom property had been on the market for two months and he had not seen a pack.
Diamond said: “I was told: ‘It’s not available, leave your e-mail address and we will e-mail you a link.’ On my ‘sale’ the agent was very unenthusiastic about HIPs and despite the fact that I have paid for a product and requested a copy, I have yet to receive one.”
The National Association of Estate Agents chose not to respond to Diamond’s comments. However, Hamptons International claimed that HIPs were not enhancing the UK sales market or meeting the original objectives of speeding the buying process and stopping gazumping.
Marc Goldberg, head of residential sales at Hamptons International, said: “Figures comparing the market before and after the implementation of HIPs reveal that the stock levels of new instructions in London were down by 24 per cent and in the country region by 6 per cent.”
