Mike Ockenden, director-general for AHIPP, questioning their motivation: “This self-confessed ‘last-ditch’ attempt to block the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs), spearheaded by Shadow Housing Minister Michael Gove is political propaganda representing anti-democratic behaviour: the public voted for our current Government and when doing so, they voted for HIPs.
“It is very disappointing to see the Tory party follow a stance which is clearly not in the interest of the environment, the consumer nor the entrepreneur in the UK and I would seriously question their motives.
“The introduction of HIPs will greatly reduce the carbon emissions of the existing housing stock and will help to improve what is currently one of the most fraught and stressful house buying and selling processes in Europe for consumers.
“The opposition is clearly jumping on the coat tails of those industry bodies who have called for a delay – a delay that is not in the best interests of the consumer. In fact, this appears to be simply opposition for opposition’s sake, unless of-course it is driven by some other motive.
“There is no doubt, the HIP industry is ready. There will be enough qualified energy assessors and as of the 1st June consumers opting to place their property on the market will be able to experience a smoother, more efficient more informative and less stressful process.”
Stephen Callaghan, director, energy-assessors.com, added: “There will be a sufficient number of qualified energy assessors by June, when we expect 3,000 to be qualified, with an excellent geographical spread.”
