Insurance News Archive

Ruth Kelly's job on the line over Hips?

The communities secretary Ruth Kelly could face the end of her political career due to the Home Information Pack (Hips) debacle as she received heavy criticism over her handling of the policy.

Her announcement of the delay of Hips implementation in the Commons on Tuesday was jeered by MPs and some said her decision to drop home condition reports last year had irreparably harmed the policy.

Yet more confusion looms as sellers and estate agents look for ways to get around the phasing in of the packs.

Ms Kelly said that the packs will now be introduced in August, starting with four-bedroom homes.

However, as there is no legal definition of a bedroom, many agents or sellers may attempt to beat the system to save on the £600 cost of the packs.

Hugh Grover, a senior estate agent based in north London, said: "The whole thing is a fiasco. The obvious response is to designate one bedroom as a reception room. Or people could just call them 'rooms' and leave it to the buyer how it's used."

But a spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government asked: "Do you seriously believe that a seller would devalue their property by saying it has fewer rooms just to avoid paying for a Hip?"

However, in response Paul Marsh, the vice-president of the Law Society, told the Telegraph: "The department has lost touch with reality. Of course that's what people will do."

24 May 2007