Insurance News Archive

Hips contain "unknowns"

There are still far too many "unknowns" regarding the planned roll out of Home Information Packs (Hips) in June, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said.

The CML has consequently urged for the roll out of Hips to be postponed until full evidence from research and area trials is available.

A latest consultation on Hips set out proposals to provide a six-month transitional period after Hips were introduced, to explore ways of linking energy performance certificates with incentives to encourage energy efficiency and to allow local authorities to speed up local authority searches.

The CML believes that four months prior to their full implementation, the Hips agenda lacks "credibility".

Jackie Bennett, head of policy at the CML, disputed the validity of various features of the packs, including the potential usefulness of energy performance certificates.

"No-one would dispute that the house-buying process is slow in the UK and could usefully be speeded up to benefit consumers. But there is no clear evidence that Hips will solve the problems," she added.

22 Feb 2007