HIPS scrapped by the Government
Home Information Packs were introduced to speed up the house selling process by obliging sellers to provide certain information about their property when it is first put up for sale.
Ministers suggested the move would save consumers £870 million over the next 10 years as the packs are paid for sellers and cost several hundred pounds each ,However, energy performance certificates – which show how energy efficient a property is – will be retained.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said: “Home sellers will get immediate relief. It means they can put their house on the market without having to shell out thousands of pounds.”
Speculation has been rife about when exactly the packs would be scrapped and the government said it had moved quickly to make today’s announcement to avoid uncertainty and to prevent a slump in an already fragile housing market.
Housing experts welcomed the decision, saying it would help home owners and the housing market.
Kirstie Allsopp, the television presenter, said “Is absurd that there was ever this additional expense. I am thrilled to bits because it is really important to help people to sell their home quicker.”
Gillian Charlesworth, a director at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “HIPs have failed to address the significant problems in the home buying process they were originally supposed to tackle and we are pleased that one of the first acts of the new Government has been to clearly show their intention to abolish them. Taking a swift decision will have minimized the impact on the market and ensured that estate agents who stick to the rules will not lose out
