Government's controversial HIP scheme one year on

A valuable weapon in the fight for the protection of consumer rights?

Many industry insiders one year on see the government's controversial Home Information Pack (HIP) scheme, as an unnecessary burden on an already struggling industry. Alternatively, the government and consumer groups see the HIP as a valuable weapon in the fight for the protection of consumer rights.

The launch of HIPs was initially announced in Labour's 1997 election manifesto, designed to be a method of increasing speed, transparency and consumer friendliness in the property market.

Following consultation it was confirmed the packs would contain an energy performance certificate (EPC), a sale statement and a copy of the title documents for the property, as well as Local Authority (LA) and drainage search certificates.

The so-called home condition report (HCR) was not included in the final HIP. This caused one of the earlier controversies with the scheme, with many claiming the removal of this report devalued the scheme.

The documents that eventually made up the HIP were designed to speed up the process of buying a house, and reduce the number of property transactions falling thorough at the last moment. It was hoped incidents of gazundering and gazumping would also be reduced.

HIPs were originally scheduled to commence on June 1st 2007, but just days before the launch an announcement was made that the programme would instead be phased in over the coming months.

Eventually, HIPs were made compulsory for four-bedroom properties on August 1st 2007, with a gradual rollout making the documents compulsory for all properties from December 14th.

However, it is important to note the document is still only required at the end of the sale process, not the beginning.

While the so-called 'First Day Marketing' of HIPs, requiring the document to be completed when a property is placed on the market, was scheduled to come into force on June 1st 2008, this has now been delayed until "late in the year."

There have also been concerns over the number of inspectors qualified to assess the EPC element of the document, with the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) saying: "The NAEA has consistently expressed concerns regarding the implementation of HIPs as there still remains a shortfall of qualified energy assessors taking the exams."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have also blamed HIPs for a decline in sales, asserting: "HIPs have reduced the number of four bedroom family properties coming onto the market, making family homes even more difficult to purchase."

Following an announcement from the government, the home information pack scheme has been extended to include a property information questionnaire (PIQ), giving buyers a better idea of the home in which they were are interested.

The scheme is still not fully in operation, a year after its launch and nearly a decade after its conception.