Home Information Pack News

The government has renewed its pledge to bring in Home Information Packs on August 1 in response to a motion to scrap the legislation brought by Baroness Hanham last week.

The House of Lords voted in favour of Hanham's motion, although the vote was non-fatal and therefore lacked the power to force the government's hand.

The Department for Communities and Local Government says HIPs are “a first step in reforming and improving the home-buying process, which is currently wasteful, stressful and opaque”.

It a response to the motion, the DCLG states: “We believe that the process needs to be more transparent and predictable, particularly for first-time buyers and that all consumers need to be able to rely on having key information before they commit to home purchase rather than later in the process.

“We also believe that the urgency of climate change and the need for consumers to have more information about reducing energy use and energy bills means that introducing Energy Performance Certificiates as part of the HIP will achieve this swiftly and reliably.

“In recent months and since the regulations were withdrawn on May 22, everything has been done to ensure a smooth introduction of HIPs and EPCs on August 1.

“Our implementation plans, announced on June 11, have been followed through.

“There are enough inspectors; the infrastructure is ready; the industry is prepared; and consumers are anticipating the change.”

The government says there is no reason for further delay and reiterates that HIPs will be brought in for homes with four or more bedrooms on August 1, to be rolled out to the remainder of the market at a later date

The House of Lords has voted against the implementation of Home Information Packs.

Baroness Hanham's non-fatal motion before the Lords to try and scrap HIPs meet with approval in the Lords, with 186 backing her motion against 160.

Although the government can disregard this vote, they would be proceeding against the express advice of Parliament.

During the debate Hanham urged the House to reconsider the scheme. She told her fellow peers: “HIPs are a con, they are a million miles from what the government first devised. The government has kept pushing a ridiculous policy that will not work.

“The mangled mandatory pack will cost the home buyer even more money - particularly the first-time buyer, for which the government invented the pack in the first place.

"Whatever the price, we can be sure the seller will just add it to the value of the home - the buyer will lose out."

But Labour peers defended the policy by citing figures from the Association of Home Information Pack Providers claiming the government is one accredited assessor short of being able to impose HIPs on three-bedroom houses.

The defendants also outlined plans that will allow homes to be marketed without a HIP up to December 31, as long as the pack had been applied for.

One Labour peer said: “This will ease up any initial bumps in the market - HIPs will improve the home buying experience for all and must be implemented for the good of the housing industry and the home buying consumers.”

Hanham also called for the government to take the Energy Performance Certificate and make it a standalone policy.

She said: “We would gladly support EPC's as a fresh initiative as they are the only part of the pack of any value. The government should do everyone a favour and abandon HIPs.”

Labour peers argued that separating the EPC from the HIP would prove a costly and drawn out process.

They argued EPC's have worked in test areas within the HIP, and were confident that they would work on a national scale.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' judicial review is the only thing standing in the way of Home Information Packs.

Yesterday, the majority of ministers in the House of Commons voted against a motion calling for HIP regulations to be annulled.

And next Tuesday the House of Lords will meet to debate and vote HIPs following a motion tabled by Baroness Handam which calls on the government to revoke the HIP regulations until further consultation can take place.

The Lords vote is a non-fatal amendment, meaning that even if the Lords back it the government can effectively ignore their vote, and the statutory instrument on HIPs will still come into law on June 1.

The motion is non-fatal because of its wording - as political experts point out Baroness Handam could have tabled a fatal motion but the House of Lords avoid killing off statutory instruments which would rubbish primary legislation passed by the Commons.

However, RIC's judicial review, which could be heard by the High Court as soon as next week, could pose a problem for HIPs if the judge involved agree that more consultation is needed.

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