Everything about Home Information Packs (HIPS)

Home Information Packs (HIPs) will make property buying easier and quicker and save consumers money, according to a new Which? book. 'Buy, Sell and Move House' will explain to homeowners exactly how a HIP will work.

I RECOGNISE that, as a subject, it doesn't sound promising. Yet the battle at Westminster over Home Information Packs, coming to an estate agent near you soon, is a fascinating example of a clash between ideologies: two parties, two opposing attitudes to the abilities of the State and the merits of the market, and led by two young MPs expected to be the parliamentary stars of the future.

A Ten Minute Rule Bill to abolish the Home Information Pack (HIP), due to be heard on May 12th, has had its Second Reading in Parliament rescheduled for 20th October 2006.

Introduced by Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater, Somerset, the Bill would revoke the parts of the Housing Act 2004 relating to the expensive and unpopular HIP which is due to be made mandatory for all home sales from June 2007.

Home Information Packs become a legal requirement for home-sellers next summer, but very few people know what they are. Home Information Packs (HIPs) will become law next summer, whether the public or industry is in agreement or not. Even though this new legislation will affect the whole buying and selling process, a substantial number of people remain unaware of what HIPs actually are. Results of a new survey conducted by The Property Investor and Homebuyer Show North (G-Mex Manchester, 2 to 4 June) have highlighted that over 27% of people are unaware of HIPs and a staggering 61% believe that it is the buyer who has to stump up the cost, as opposed to the seller.

A SHORTAGE of inspectors to prepare the new house-sellers' packs will drastically slow the process of moving and upset the Government's plans to revolutionise the property market, industry experts predict.

Government plans to force homesellers to provide potential buyers with Home Information Packs (HIPs) are "ridiculous", the head of a leading industry body said today.