Ruth Kelly clarifies Hips roll-out

Posted: 12 Jun 2007 13:48:52 GMT

Communities minister Ruth Kelly has given more details on the planned roll-out of Home Information Packs (Hips) on August 1st.

Communities minister Ruth Kelly has given more details on the planned roll-out of Home Information Packs (Hips) on August 1st.

Reassuring the industry that the implementation of the packs would take place, Ms Kelly said that four-bedroom homes would be the first to require Hips, followed by three-bedroom homes and finally all other properties once enough domestic energy assessors had been trained.

An insufficient number of trained assessors - required for the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) - was blamed for the delay of the original Hips launch scheduled for June 1st.

Reacting to Ms Kelly's assurances, Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) said the clarification was welcomed by the industry.

"The industry now has a structured implementation plan that offers Hip providers and energy assessors an opportunity to plan more confidently for the future," he said.

"We now call upon all industries that touch the home buying and selling process to get behind the implementation of Hips, in order to deliver the benefits to home sellers and buyers."

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