A consultation paper on Home Information Packs (HIPs) issued in January by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said that estate agents will have to attach the complete EPC from the pack to all their property sales details. Sales details are usually two pages long. The full EPC is up to seven pages.
Energy Performance Certificates are the requirement of a European Union Directive for when a property is sold or let. However the government is going much further than the Directive dictates by forcing sellers to have the certificate produced when a property is put up for sale.
Nick Salmon, leader of the SPLINTA campaign, said: “HIPs are supposed to be about improving the home buying process but that is hardly mentioned by ministers these days. It is now all about the government claiming to do something about carbon emissions. Apparently potential house buyers are so unintelligent they need to be told in writing that double glazing, cavity wall insulation and a modern boiler can save money on fuel costs. To achieve this the government are seriously proposing that we squander millions of pages of extra paper and print every year. The full EPC has to be in the HIP anyway, so why do we need it repeated on agents’ details?
“If this daft idea is carried through, my own firm of Harrison Murray, which has 20 offices, could be using well over 50,000 extra pages of paper and print each year. Multiply that quantity across all the agents in the country and it can be seen that, far from being ‘green’, the government will become hugely carbon-irresponsible.”
SPLINTA said that HIPs containing an EPC and paid for by home sellers at an average cost of £450, have to be compiled before the marketing of a property can begin but will fail to address the real causes of stress and delay in the home buying process. It warned that the introduction of mandatory packs in June could disrupt an already fragile housing market, leading to fewer properties put up for sale and a subsequent rise in house price inflation.
Salmon said: “There could be chaos in May as sellers rush to beat the June deadline, after which fewer properties will come up for sale and prices will rise. There are very serious flaws in the already discredited pack and the government should heed the warnings of professionals who can see this botched scheme for what it really is. A very dodgy HIP."
