Rightmove reports surge in new listings

Permalink: Rightmove reports surge in new listings
by Kay Mitchell

The scrapping of Home Information Packs (Hips) has resulted in a rise in the number of properties coming onto the market, according to property website Rightmove.

The coalition Government scrapped Hips earlier this month, describing them as “pointless red-tape” which have been “strangling the housing market”.

The news was welcomed by estate agents and mortgage brokers who have frequently called on the Government to review the packs, believing them to have contributed to the fall in house prices that followed for many months after they were introduced.

According to Rightmove, listings on its website have jumped by 35% in the seven days after the Government announced it was scrapping the packs.

The packs were introduced in August 2007 and, according to the Government, were designed to speed up the home buying and selling process.

However, it appears that sellers were put off by the cost of the packs and the red tape, according to Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove.

A Hip cost sellers in the region of between £250 and £350.

The group said new listings rose throughout the country, with Wales experiencing the biggest increase of 66%, while the North West saw the smallest gain at 12%.

The scrapping of Hips, however, was a devastating blow to those involved in the industry, who have between them injected millions into the project over the past few years.