Home Information Packs: Help or hindrance?
HIPs hit the headlines again the week – this time the subject of an apparent cover up. Kate O’Raghallaigh reports.
Home Information Packs (HIPs) are no strangers to controversy. Ever since their initial introduction for four-bedroom properties on 1 August 2007, there has been a constant battle between those who are pro-HIP and those who are against.
Hitting the headlines
This week, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) released results of research conducted before the full introduction of HIPs. The results were positive, with 72% of sellers claiming to be satisfied with their HIP, 79% agreeing it contained everything they expected and 81% understanding all the documents included in the pack. DCLG also suggested that estate agents were responsible for the 58% of buyers who would have liked to see the HIP at an earlier stage of the process, reporting that agents had either shown the HIP too late, or not at all.
However, shortly after DCLG released its statement, further statistics showing the failure of HIPS in many respects came to light, adding fuel to the fire of those, such as Boulger, who have been anti-HIP since the beginning. Statistics left out of the original release included the fact that 80% of buyers said that following the sale of their property, they felt HIPs hadn’t helped the process. Furthermore, 70% of sellers said HIPs did not make the selling process more efficient.
DCLG’s release and the figures it left out of it, elicited minor outrage from the National Association of Estate Agents and from HIP skeptics alike, all of whom attacked the Government’s selective approach to the statistics revealed.
Those who hail HIPS as the saviour of the homebuying and selling process claim the packs offer buyers and sellers improved efficiency. HIPs contain documents providing information about a property, such as local searches and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
The aim of the packs is to provide more efficient property transactions by offering all the documents in one pack. The incentive for sellers is that if they have all of this information readily and conveniently available, potential buyers will be able to make an informed decision more quickly.
Those such as Ray Boulger, who comfortably reside in the anti-HIP camp, say HIPs are unnecessary and a waste of time. Boulger explains: “While there are ways to improve the homebuying and selling process, HIPs are not it. If someone is seriously interested in buying a property, they won’t want to wait around for their solicitor to check the searches in the HIP. The EPC isn’t hugely important either – it doesn’t tell you anything that a surveyor wouldn’t. The only people who really care about energy performance are those who want to make green changes to the property for commercial reasons.”
Opposite camps
Peter Noe, company director of HIP provider JP Home Inspections, agrees with the suggestion that estate agents aren’t playing their part. He says: “To a degree, it seems that estate agents are not pushing HIPS in the direction we want them to go. They don’t really promote them, and many of them still don’t fully understand the necessity of them. I’ve spoken to buyers who weren’t shown the HIP until very late in the process, if at all.”
Boulger, on the other hand, is of the opinion that if estate agents aren’t using HIPs, it’s for a good reason. He continues: “Estate agents will do whatever they can to aid the sale of a property. If HIPs aren’t being used, this clearly demonstrates that they offer little value to the process.”
Noe maintains that the government’s figures showing consumers’ satisfaction with HIPs are an accurate reflection of the current market. He says: “In my experience, most people are very happy with HIPs, in particular first-time buyers. People enjoy having all the information out there in the HIP, and they have certainly been a good thing for the housing market.”
Boulger remains skeptical, however. He adds: “When the Government releases any kind of figures such as these, people should be cynical – it is, after all, on a mission to try and justify what it has done.”
When all is said – and a lot has been said – and done, it seems that the HIPs debate is just one of those topics that will continue to cause arguments. The fact remains that, whatever side of the fence you’re on, HIPs have been implemented and will be around for the foreseeable future.
A HIP includes the following documents:
• Title plan (proof that the seller owns the property)
• Local authority searches
• Statement verifying the property is for sale
• Drainage and water efficiency results
• Copy of the individual register
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), rating the property’s energy efficiency
For more information on HIPs, click here
You can also read more about HIPs in Your Mortgage magazine
