The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) found that almost three quarters of sellers in the HIP trial areas were pleased with the Packs, with the vast majority understanding the full contents.
Encouragingly, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) were found to have had the desired effect after around a third of buyers revealed they were planning to carry out the recommendations it made.
However one major criticism was the point in the process at which the buyer actually got to view the Pack. Over half of buyers would have liked to have seen the property's HIP much earlier on, however in practice it made little difference to the buyer's decision to go ahead with their property purchase.
Housing Minister Caroline Flint urged property professionals to take these findings on board as quickly as possible to help increase the proportion of buyers receiving a HIP before deciding whether to purchase a property.
Jeff Smith, HIP Payment Services' chief executive added: “The positive objectives behind the packs are already coming to fruition and I hope that we can now move beyond the propaganda surrounding their introduction to ensure the home buying and selling public can continue to experience the true benefits.
Majority of HIPs are now being provided within 14 working days at a cost of between £300-£350.
Building on the success of the full roll-out, the government has extended the use of insurance cover where property search data is unavailable, from 31 March to 31 December 2008.
