AHIPP responds to Merit Committee report

Mike Ockenden Director General, Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) responds to the Merit Committee’s report on Home Information Packs (HIPs), published today:

“Today’s report on HIPs has not presented a balanced and fair review - the Merits Committee failed to obtain evidence from a number of industry players including AHIPP, CoPSO and key environmental groups.

“While its findings have been far from damning of the HIPs regulations, the committee’s failure to consult with major players in the industry has made it difficult to see how a truly balanced report can have been derived. As with any major reform there will always be an element of opposition within the industry but if the committee had successfully consulted with the full range of industry bodies involved, a number of the conclusions drawn may have been very different.

“AHIPP represents a wide constituency of members from estate agents and surveyors to conveyancers, search organisations, insurers and finance companies. All of these organisations have made a substantial investment to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of HIPs on the 1st June, yet all of these collective voices appear to have been ignored.

“HIPs trials have taken place across the UK over many months and they have provided evidence of improved efficiency in the market as a result of HIPs. Latest figures show that the number of transaction failures fell 8% and the time between offer exchange was cut by an average of 11 days, as a result of Hips, even without the added advantage of the HCR.

“If there was one element of the recent report that I would support, it is the importance of the Home Condition Report (HCR) and we will continue to lobby Government for a route map to re-instating the HCR as a mandatory element of the pack within a given timeframe.

“Our message is still very clear. In one month from now HIPs are going to happen and industry is ready. Home buyers and sellers can look forward to a less stressful process and further we can expect to see a considerable reduction in the carbon emissions from our homes - an issue which has to be paramount at this time of dramatic climate change.”