HIP, HIP, Delay! Warning over mis-selling of Home Information Packs

Home Information Packs (HIPs) should have been a boon for homebuyers, or at least that is what we were told. But HIPs have been watered down, put on hold, and now look completely washed up.

HIPs were touted by their proponents as the missing element for successful home buying. They were supposed to shorten considerably the time taken to sell homes and reduce the likelihood of failed transactions. However, not everyone agreed. Fool.co.uk readers have voiced their scepticism on the website’s discussion boards.

They have labelled HIPs as “half-baked”, and they have also expressed concerns that the packs may be a clever ruse to foist unpopular EU energy regulations onto unsuspecting consumers. One poster has drawn a parallel with the failed Conveyancing Protocol of the 1980s in which sellers were required to provide local searches as part of the requirements for selling a home.

Other discussion-board posters have criticised the apparent laissez-faire attitude of the documents contained in HIPs - over half the contents are now optional. Discretionary documents include the Home Condition Report, Home Use and Contents Forms and the Legal Summary.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: “HIPs have all the ingredients for a recipe for disaster. Allowing optional documents to be included in HIPs will do nothing to improve the housing market. Instead it will give carte blanche to sharp HIP providers to sell lucrative add-ons to vulnerable home sellers.

“Consequently, home sellers need to be vigilant if and when HIPs are introduced. As it stands, only six documents are needed for a basic HIP, so consumers should resist paying for unnecessary optional extras. These include searches covering right of way, reports on ground stability and surveys for potential hazards such as flooding and contaminated land.

“HIPs are looking increasingly like the dud that many predict. Nevertheless until such time the Government climbs down completely it will still be law. But just because the law is a lemon doesn’t mean you should let over-zealous HIP providers squeeze you till the pips squeak.”