Easier2move’s HIP Awareness Index for October showed 63 per cent of respondents did not know whether the HCR would be made mandatory in the future. While 15 per cent thought HCRs could be reintroduced to the HIPs proposition following the trial, 3 per cent believed it could follow the next elections. However, 19 per cent did not think the HCR would ever become mandatory.
The survey also showed that almost one-in-five firms had yet to adequately educate its staff on HIPs. With eight months to the launch, 19 per cent of estate agents were still unable to describe what a HIP was with some degree of accuracy.
Karen Babington, marketing director of Easier2move, commented: “A common problem for many of the estate agents surveyed was an inability to make plans amid continued legislative change. U-turns imposed by the government have led to confusion, as we can see from the lack of estate agents willing to comment on the inclusion of the HCR.”
Rod Murdison, proprietor of Murdison & Browning, said: “I don’t think any member of the public was ever that clear of the benefits of HCRs. I can see HCRs coming in eventually, but in some emaciated form. But I think they are useless, so hopefully they will just fade away.”
