The government expects that confirmation of an implementation date will act as a trigger to others who are waiting to begin their training as Home Inspectors as well as provide certainty to organisations that are already preparing to offer Home Information Packs to consumers on a voluntary basis.
Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper said: "Too many sales fall through because of delays and late information, wasting money and causing great stress for buyers and sellers, that's why we are introducing the Packs. We have been working with all parts of industry on the detail and this timetable will give them time to fully prepare".
Many companies offering HIPs welcomed the decision and deadline as to when HIPs will start. Dominic Toller, marketing and new business director of LMS said. "The challenge now is for those who will be providing HIPs to consumers to ensure they are working with the right supplier to enable them to create packs which comply with the law, and which are produced quickly, accurately and efficiently so sellers can get their homes on the market as fast as possible."
However he added: "The implementation of HIPs in June 2007 will come at the same time as the implementation of the second stage of the HMLR (Land Registry) chain matrix. This is part of the government initiative towards e-conveyancing and it will eventually enable the progress of each transaction in the sales chain to be monitored on-line.”
However Toller admitted: “This will put a heavy burden on everyone involved and the clock is now ticking."
Marcus Cox, managing director of mysalepack.com also responded to the government’s deadline, and insisted that HIPs would revolutionise the housing market. He said: “Much political scaremongering has been made of their introduction over the last few weeks and months, with many commentators being well wide of the mark in their assessment that HIPs will be a breeding ground for cowboys. The suggestion is simply absurd.
HIPs will revolutionise the housing market and this is only the start of an exciting journey with further wide-ranging changes planned by the government. Key areas of reform such as increased use of technology will enable local authority searches to be delivered on-line within 10 days and make on-line conveyancing and mortgage offers a real possibility. In addition, HIPs have an important role to play in helping achieve improved energy efficiency levels. Today's announcement therefore has to be welcome news for consumers. As a HIP provider, we are pleased to be able to move forward with certainty and concentrate on delivering a quality product and ensuring that all relevant processes are in place rather than debating their introduction.”
