Hips dismissed as 'pointless'

Posted: 11 Jul 2006 10:11:25 GMT

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has once again criticised Home Information Packs (Hips) arguing that they will fail to achieve their primary objective.

It has long been the claim of the government that Hips will be instrumental in cutting down on the number of failed property transactions, but the NAEA argues that this is a fallacy.

Having surveyed 1466 adults in England and Wales, the NAEA found that 30 per cent had experienced a breakdown in the house sale process at some stage.

But only 18.3 per cent said that this was due to unfavourable survey findings, with the vast majority blaming a broken property chain or a better offer from another buyer.

And 60 per cent of respondents who witnessed a failed transaction speculated that a Home Condition Report – which will be included in the Hip – would have done nothing to prevent the disappointment.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA comments: "The government seems to be of the opinion that the majority of home sales fall through due to unexpected flaws unearthed at a late stage in the process via the survey or legal problems. Our research proves what we already knew, that this is clearly not the case, and that most sales collapse as a result of events outside anyone's control."

According to the NAEA, 60 per cent of potential house sellers will be deterred from marketing their property because of the delays and costs involved in putting together a Hip.

This view, however, is not shared by all and several experts have predicted that the introduction of Hips on June 1st next year will significantly improve the property market.


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