Nick Stace, campaigns and communications director at Which? said:
"The new Department for the Communities is not worthy of its title,
it seems incapable of defending people in our communities making the biggest
purchasing decision of their lives.
"The homebuyer was looking to the government to hold firm in the face of
criticism from the estate agents, instead the government has shown its house is
made of straw.
"Even estate agents are trusted more than politicians which is hardly
surprising when politicians seem incapable of defending homebuyers. The new
'half-HIP' will be a useless but a very expensive waste of time."
"This half-baked compromise will result in something that is of little value
but of real expense to consumers and Which? cannot therefore continue to provide
support. For interest, estate agents are the second least trusted profession
after politicians. After this u-turn, it is perhaps not surprising."
Which? will continue to argue strongly for home buying reforms particularly
the creation of proper redress mechanisms for consumers.
For SPLINTA (Sellers Pack Law is Not the Answer), Nick Salmon,
said: "The Minister, Yvette Cooper, is to be congratulated for her
pragmatic approach to the inherent problems of Home Information Packs. She
has had the courage to grasp a nettle that previous Ministers had created.
We have always said that the government aim of improving the buying process
was laudable but that their preferred solution was wide of the mark. By
removing the main objections to HIP the Minister has opened the way for the
property industry to develop far more cost effective improvements. SPLINTA
will continue to press for that beneficial change.'
Paul Smith, Chief Executive of Spicerhaart comments: "Making
the Home Condition Report voluntary is a complete cop-out. It diminishes one of
the main objectives that the Home Information Pack is set out to achieve -
reducing the number of failed transactions by improving the transparency.
Transactions commonly fall through because buyers find out about defects at a
later stage of the buying process. The Home Condition Report would have improved
the transparency and put a stop to this.
"The Government has been once again completely ineffectual, bowing down to
unsubstantiated and incorrect anti-HIP campaigns."
Charles Smailes, President at the National Association of Estate
Agents (NAEA), comments: "The Government has admitted it is
unlikely to have the necessary number of home inspectors in place by 1 June 2007
to cope with home condition report demands. This has been a major concern
of the NAEA and we are thankful the Minister has finally
listened. "The mandatory nature of HIPs continues to be a concern,
however, particularly when the requirement to include an energy performance
certificate still remains. The Government acknowledges the home condition
report cannot be included because of a lack of home inspectors. However as
the energy efficiency report was originally part of the home condition report,
questions must be asked over who will be tasked with collating this
information.
"We welcome the introduction of trials that will allow sellers to start
marketing their homes if they have already commissioned a HIP, rather than
forcing them to wait up to 14 days. We hope the Government will use the
delay in introducing the home condition report as an opportunity to conduct a
full and proper trial as originally promised.
"The announcement today is something of a U-turn by the Government on
legislation it has been working on for over five years. It calls into
question the effectiveness of a HIP when the documentation included is now
largely available online. The legislation would seem unnecessary and does
not cover the important reasons why home sales and purchase transactions fall
through."
CML Head of Policy Jackie Bennett said:
"We are pleased that the government has recognised the considerable risks
of a 'big bang' approach to introducing HIPs with full home condition
reports from 1 June 2007. We have always said that the timetable was
challenging for such a complex set of changes. Consumer demand, and not
the government, will now drive take-up of home condition reports."
"But there will be a mixed reaction from lenders and other stakeholders
to today's announcement. For those that have invested heavily to
deliver and use home condition reports from next June, the lack of
compulsion will be a disappointment."
Mike Ockenden, Director General of the Association of Home
Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) said: "The Fact that HIPs will still
happen on June 1st is good news for the consumer. A recent survey by an
AHIPP member, Your Move, found that 85% of consumers would welcome the Home
Condition Report (HCR) as part of the pack - the Government's decision to allow
the HCR to be voluntary at the start is wholly unnecessary.
"It is AHIPP's intention to carry out an early roll out of HIPs from
quarter four this year, including an HCR. It is our firm belief that there will
be consumer demand for the HCR and it will become mandatory.
"The fact that the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) remains
mandatory means that an inspector will still need to carry out the report."
Responding to the Government's announcement today about the future of HIPs,
Brian Scannell, managing director of SAVA, said:
"We are extremely disappointed by today's announcement. It's an
unnecessary change that simply delays the consumer benefits of compulsory Home
Condition Reports whilst adding to the uncertainty of prospective home
inspectors and the HIP industry.
"There has been some speculation recently that there would not be enough Home
Inspectors in time for a mandatory roll out of HCRs next summer. This is
complete nonsense and I am surprised that the Minister should even mention this
as a factor in the Government's change of thinking. Even by the
Government's own figures, there are already more than 4,400 people currently in
training to become Home Inspectors, and we still have a year to go.
"However, we are pleased that the Government's policy objective remains that
a full HCR will be available for all properties when they are marketed. The
Energy Performance Certificate will be compulsory from 1 June 2007 and, although
voluntary, the rest of the Home Condition Report provides valuable objective
information on the condition of the home, written in plain English and prepared
by certified Home Inspectors.
"Putting a property on the market with a complete HCR will help to make it
more attractive to potential purchasers and will help a sale to go through
faster. The marginal additional cost of producing a full report should be
more than offset by the market advantage it gives to sellers.
"For this reason, industry will certainly do its bit to promote full reports
to sellers. But in order for the market to function as the Government
wants, we will still need to see stronger market demand from homebuyers, and
more consumers need to know the benefits of seeing a full HCR before they buy a
home. This is where Government must play its part.
"SAVA believes in the fundamental value of HIPs. We have spent three years
putting in place the support services needed."