HIP's abolition order signed and ready to go!! |
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17th May 2010
An order to suspend HIPs has been signed, with the announcement of a suspension due this week as Parliament convenes.
According to well-placed sources, the order was signed on Friday morning.
The HIP industry is anxiously awaiting developments, and could mount a legal challenge to the suspension.
A note from the HIP Reform Group sent to its members says it is “firmly of the view that this would amount to an unlawful use of the statutory power (section 162). It could therefore be challenged in the Court.
“Suspension of the HIP would kill our industry overnight. Not only would the HIP providers be affected, but the EPC market would also be instantly killed as responsibility for ordering the EPC would be left with the vendor. Thousands of jobs will be lost and livelihoods will be lost.”
The HIP Reform Group has called on all its members to lobby MPs and housing minister Grant Shapps.
Meanwhile Knight Frank called for the abolition of HIPs to go yet further, with the EPC pushed to the back of the transaction.
The firm said: “Only if this happens will the full damaging legacy of HIPs have been removed.”
Bushells comment that whatever the plans are, they need to be released NOW as this uncertainty is not helping anyone. Its not fair on vendors, the industry, and particularly those working in the Home Information Packs business. A legal challenge may follow, but the reality is that this will prove very costly and will only serve to delay the inevitable. HIPs were a good idea, but were implemented half-heartedly. Government consulted with industry, but failed to listen. Eric Walker, Managing Director, was on the HIPs Sub Committee and records that the Government were warned as to the effect of not having Home Inspection Reprots contained within the Home Information Pack. "What we were left with was all the legal documents that the intended user wasn't qualified to fully understand. It was obvious that this law would be repealed at some point as illustrated by the Lord's imposing a sunset clause, and the Government were warned that it would bring the collapse of a cottage industry built around a failed policy"
