Following Wednesday’s opposition day debate in the House of Commons, and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) placing futher emphasis on HIPs as a key player in the dwindling confidence of buyers and sellers, Dominic Toller, director of marketing & new business at LMS, spoke out in support of HIPs calling them “the biggest positive change to the house buying process in a very long time.”
Toller continued: “It’s about time that HIPs stopped being blamed for the reduction in the number of properties on the market. These reductions were already happening throughout June and July, before the first phase of HIPs on 1 August which itself only affected 17 per cent of properties. The Tories and RICS need to start getting their facts right.
“Although we haven’t seen the full benefit of HIPs yet, once every property in a chain needs a HIP, we will see a substantial reduction in the number of days a transaction takes and a reduction in the number of aborted sales.”
Jeff Smith, chief executive of HIP Payment Services, was just as confident of HIPs success as Toller, saying: “With the average house valued at around £235,000, it is absurd to suggest that a cost of about £350 will have any great impact on the house selling process. RICS has consistently opposed the introduction of HIPs, and one can only question their motivation behind moves for any further opposition in the current climate.
“There are many factors contributing to a possible downturn in the market, not least that we are currently experiencing the first run on a mortgage bank in living memory, and a perceived bubble in house prices has led to the majority of commentators pointing to an impending fall. Aside from this, interest rates have been consistently rising for some time, and it was only a matter of time before consumers started to feel the pinch.
“With HIPs now required for three and four bedroom homes, any continued opposition at this stage would only serve to harm the one group that would most benefit from a roll-out to one and two bedroom homes – first-time buyers. I have every confidence that the Housing Minister will continue to hold firm and resist these latest, ludicrous claims.”
