Conservative party announces plans to abolish Hips

Permalink: Conservative party announces plans to abolish Hips
by Kay Murchie

Speaking at the party’s conference in Blackpool yesterday
Grant Shapps, the shadow housing spokesman, said the Conservative party plan to scrap Home Information Packs as a matter of urgency if they win the next election.

Hips were launched on 1st August this year for 4-bedroom properties and rolled out to 3-bedroom houses last month. Currently, they cover roughly 63% of all housing stock in England and Wales.

Hips have been criticised for being overly bureaucratic and for forcing property from the market due to their cost. Hips were originally created to prevent gazumping, make the sale process quicker and provide homebuyers with detailed information about the structure and energy efficiency of the property.

However, the comments by the Conservative party have been subject to disapproval by Jeff Smith, the chief executive of Hip Payment Services (HPS). He commented that the suggestion of scrapping Hips is irresponsible and impractical.

Mr Smith continued that the Conservative government would be unable to bring in any such changes until the courts had heard all of the necessary applications for injunctions. Dragging this through the courts would exceed £100 million in compensation added Mr Smith.

Mr Smith concluded that by abolishing Hips will also jeopardise the occupations of thousands of people such as energy assessors, Home Inspectors, pack providers and all those running HIP related businesses. If Hips are scrapped, these people will demand compensation.