Last phase of Hips delayed

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by Kay Murchie

The final phase of Home Information Packs (Hips) has been delayed by the Government until the end of the year.

The plan was for the final phase to be implemented on 1 June but this now means that homeowners in England and Wales have been given extra time to comply with the final rules for Hips.

The final phase was that a Hip should be prepared and ready before a property goes on the market.

Homes can continue to be sold but a Hip needs to have been ordered and paid for.

Furthermore, the requirement that leases should be included in a Hip if the property is leasehold, has also been delayed until the end of the year.

Hips were introduced to speed up the home buying and selling process as well as providing consumers with a faster and more cost effective service. However, they have been subject to heavy criticism since the launch date.

Hips were launched on August 1 to include properties with 4-bedrooms or more and rolled-out to include 3-bedroom properties on September 10. They included all properties from December 14 last year.

A report in March by consumer group, Which?, quoted the Law Society saying it believes Hips are ‘the worst piece of consumer legislation in 50 years’.