Home Information Packs scrapped

The Con-Lib coalition government has today confirmed it will suspend the use of home information packs (HIPs) with effect from tomorrow.

Home sellers will still be required to commission an energy performance certificate (EPC) - which ranks the energy efficiency of a home - before marketing their property.

HIPs were introduced by the Labour government in 2007 with the aim of speeding up the house selling process. However, the packs - which typically cost around £300 - have been criticised by many in the industry for having the opposite effect and discouraging many potential sellers from putting their home on the market.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles today said: “The expensive and unnecessary Home Information Pack has increased the cost and hassle of selling homes and is stifling a fragile housing market.”

“That’s why I am taking emerging action to suspend the HIP, bringing down the cost of selling a home and removing unnecessary regulation from the home buying process,” he said.

Estate agents welcomed the announcement. “The National Association of Estate Agents has long campaigned for HIPs to be scrapped. They have failed to benefit home buyers and actively discouraged sellers,” said chief executive Peter Bolton King.

Property experts said the government should use this opportunity to improve the home buying process further.

“There is now the opportunity to start again with a clean slate and come up with innovative proposals to reform the system,” said Gillian Charlesworth of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Liam Bailey of Knight Frank suggested the government should follow French and Portuguese examples where the EPC is only required when terms have been agreed on sales - not prior to marketing.

“Only if this happens will the full damaging legacy of HIPs have been removed,” he said.