Hips loophole claimed

Posted: 15 Jun 2007 10:58:22 GMT

Home Information Packs (Hips) regulations allow for a loophole meaning that the packs do not need to be produced at the point of sale, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has claimed.

Home Information Packs (Hips) regulations allow for a loophole meaning that the packs do not need to be produced at the point of sale, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has claimed.

According to the institution, regulations published by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) only require sellers to have ordered a Hip when contracts are exchanged - not have one ready.

If a buyer is found and the property is taken of the market before a Hip can be produced, the seller may never need to pay for it, Rics further claims.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) rejected the claims, however, saying that they were "totally unfounded".

"The allegation made today by Rics, claiming to have found a loop-hole in the latest Hip regulations, which will not require sellers to produce a Hip at the exchange of contracts, is nothing more than the typical anti-Hip propaganda we have learned to expect," said Mike Ockenden, AHIPP director general.

"Following our own investigations into the regulations, this allegation is totally unfounded."

Hips are due to be launched on August 1st.

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