HIP's Home Information Packs

The House of Lords has accused the government of failing to convince the housing industry of the benefits of Home Information Packs.The Lords today discussed the issues surrounding HIPs in its Select Committee on the Merits of Statutory Instruments, where it heard the concerns of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Law Society, the National Association of Estate Agents, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and Which?. It also heard rebuttal from the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Concerns were mainly based round the decision to make Home Condition Reports, which were central to the HIP pack, voluntary, while making Energy Performance Certificates mandatory. Dissenters argued to the Lords that making the HCR voluntary made the HIP “hollow”, while making the EPC mandatory was an attempt to carry favour and “gold-plate” the scheme.

The DCLG argued that it studies found that the HCR was not a primary concern of the public, while a regular EPC, which goes beyond European legislation, was something that the British public wanted.

The Lords were unconvinced by the government’s argument.
The report says: “We cannot but conclude that the government have not been able to convince the principal stakeholders in the housing market that their proposals as they now stand are sensible or worthwhile, or are likely to be effective for their declared purposes; and that they need to do more if the market is to respond positively to this intervention.”

As a result of the findings, Baronness Hanham, the Conservative representative for local governments, has filed an amendment for debate in the Lords concerning HIPs.