Despite the government’s u-turn on the HIPs implementation timeline, the provider has released a statement to its agents confirming its commitment to provide packs to estate agents and intermediaries.
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Before the revised launch date of 1 August for houses with four bedrooms or more, Hipstar had been preparing staff and resources for the 1 June launch, and Hipstar confirmed that the statement was intended to reduce confusion in the market. Stephen Maskens, chief executive at Hipstar, 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. It is not just HIP providers that are affected by this last minute decision, estate agents, conveyancers and intermediaries are too. The industry cannot afford to lose momentum; we all need to focus on the new implementation date and the phased introduction of HIPs.”
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Alan Dring, sales director at eConveyancer, said: “This is most probably a conducted move from their perspective considering the amount of capital they have invested in their preparation. We would produce something similar but not put all our eggs in the HIP basket so we can be comfortable with the changes which ever way it goes.”
