United Kingdom real estate agents support scrapping Home Information Packs (HIPs). HIPS were introduced to negate the need for structural surveys by including Home Condition Reports in the packs. However, when the Home Condition Reports were not made a mandatory feature of HIPs, the new packs were viewed as an expensive addition to the house selling process.
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has campaigned for HIPs to be scrapped, arguing they have failed to benefit home buyers and actively discouraged sellers. New Housing Minister Grant Shapps has committed to a consultation on their removal. “This is great news for the housing market and for house buyers, few of whom have paid much attention to these pointless packs. It is also good news for sellers, who will no longer need to shell out hundreds of pounds for a piece of pointless regulation that benefits no one,” said Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA.
Also in support of ending the packs, Nicholas Leeming, a director of the online estate agents Zoopla, said, “The abolition of HIPs is a positive move for the housing market. Sellers see them as an annoyance, buyers don’t ask to see them and solicitors often refuse to rely on the information they contain.” PropertyWire.com further reports.
