Home Information Packs (HIPs) have failed to improve the home-buying process and should be made voluntary, according to a report on the property market.
The Carsberg Review of Residential Property claims that the controversial packs provide “the worst of all worlds” as they are extremely expensive yet contain very little useful information.
The government originally intended that, as of June 1, all sellers would need a HIP ready before they could put their homes on the market. However, this has since been delayed until the end of the year.
Fierce opposition hasn’t died down
HIPs were designed to improve the buying-process, yet they have been met with vehement opposition across the property industry, with critics slating them as a hindrance and an unnecessary expense that benefits no one.
These groups have repeatedly called for HIPs to be scrapped outright, but the government has insisted the packs are actually a success.
Area trials in March “clearly showed that consumers believe the new home buying and selling process is much improved”, the government said, adding that nearly three quarters of consumers were “fairly or very satisfied” with HIPs.
Successful products don’t need to be forced
With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how the government responds to calls in the Carsberg report for the packs to be made voluntary.
The argument here is that, if HIPs are indeed as popular as the government claims, there should be no need to force them on the market.
On the one hand, sellers would happily purchase a HIP as it would help them sell their property faster while on the other, buyers would insist on the packs as they contained vital information about the home they wanted.
The author of the report, Sir Bryan Carsberg, does not seem convinced that this is the case, however. “Some would summarise the position by saying that the HIP provides the worst of all worlds – it omits much of the most useful information but still imposes significant costs on the property transaction."
Report also targets estate agents
The wide-reaching report also called for estate agents to be subject to formal regulation in order to better protect customers.
According to the author, anyone can set up in business as an estate agent, but a basic qualification is needed.
“I recommend that landlords, letting and managing agents should be subject to appropriate regulatory requirements in order to achieve consumer protection, efficient markets and cost effectiveness."
