Stephen Maskens, chief executive said;
“The announcement may cause some of the smaller HIP providers to consider whether they can afford to continue to invest in a business with a lack of absolute clarity in its implementation. Some HIP providers that established a model purely to protect existing business streams may also reflect on this and realise they can save themselves time and expense by partnering with a company such as ourselves.
Hipstar has a long term view of the HIPs market and, as part of Network Data Holdings plc, we have the resources available to deliver HIPs efficiently and to manage fluctuations in volumes, caused by seasonal markets or an errant government!”
HIP providers, such as Hipstar, have been gearing up staff and resources for a 1st June launch – a date that has been stated time and time again in parliament and in the press.
The Government’s changes came as quite a surprise to everyone involved and the media frenzy caused as a result has left consumers even more confused.
Maskens said: “It is not just HIP providers that are affected by this last minute decision, Estate Agents, Conveyancers and Intermediaries are too. They have been actively marketing their clients to advise them of the 1st June deadline and have been busy preparing their businesses for their imminent introduction. We have helped with this by providing meaningful face to face training to hundreds of firms.”
“The industry cannot afford to lose momentum; we all need to focus on the new implementation date and the phased introduction of HIPs. It is important to remember this new proposal brings many benefits to Estate Agents, which will help towards a smoother implementation. We will be using the extra weeks to continue to educate and train our Agents and will be releasing details of our next series of events shortly.”
