Only 62% of intermediaries believe that Home Information Packs (HiPs) will speed up the house buying process according to a recent survey by xit2, the provider of outsourced process management for the lending and surveying industries. A further 50% believe that HiPs will create too much administration and 38% say they will depress the market.
xit2’s latest survey polled surveyors, estate agencies, lenders, intermediaries and conveyancers about their views on HiPs. The research was undertaken in the Autumn of 2003.
Half (50%) of intermediaries believe there are not enough RICS surveyors to cope with the new initiative. And the majority of these see technology as the solution. 38% believe that better technology is needed to streamline communications between parties in the house buying supply chain. 62% would welcome a central portal where all elements of the house buying process can be accessed. In fact half of intermediaries (50%) believe that advances in technology will deem the packs obsolete before their proposed introduction in 2006.
Paul Duckworth, managing director of xit2, comments: “It seems the industry has mixed views on how HiPs will impact the house-buying process.Clearly the packs will be resource-intensive and demand slicker administration – a concern expressed by the majority of respondents. But whether HiPs are introduced or abandoned, the vast majority of intermediaries see the use of technology as the real enabler of slicker house buying and selling.”
Currently, 50% of intermediaries rate lenders as the least efficient party in the house-buying supply chain.
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