Issue 11 : 1 May 2007

www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk

UPDATE ON PROGRESS TOWARDS GO LIVE ON 1 JUNE

We are continuing to make good progress ahead of the introduction of HIPs on 1 June. The purpose of this bulletin is to bring you up-to-date with the latest headlines, with further information available on the Home Information Packs website.

Update on the Merits Committee report

The House of Lords Merits Committee’s report on the HIP (and EPC) Regulations was published this morning and is available here.

A CLG press statement, released this afternoon, is below. A formal response from the Department to the Merits Committee will be sent tomorrow.

Statement from CLG:

“It is unfortunate that the committee only had the chance to hear evidence from a narrow range of groups, such as RICS and the National Association of Estate Agents, many of whom have vested interests in the current system – had they heard a wider range of views, for example from green groups or from industry groups who support HIPs, as we did for our consultation, then they may well have come to a different set of conclusions.

“The government is pursuing the policy of HIPs because it will cut carbon emissions and improve the flow of timely information to consumers. We believe these objectives are widely shared across the country.

“Our approach on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) has been widely welcomed by green groups and we make no apology for going further than European requirements and stating there should be a new EPC every time a property is bought or sold. We do not believe consumers will act on an EPC which could be ten years out of date.

“We continue to believe that more and better information upfront will benefit consumers and promote competition. HIPs are only one part of wider reforms to improve house buying and selling and responsibility for ensuring consumers get a good deal rests with the professionals involved in the home buying and selling process who need to do better. HIPs will be a catalyst for that.

“We are taking a sensible approach to Home Condition Reports (HCRs) and the area trials will provide valuable information on their benefits. The reason why HCRs were not made mandatory was because the industry was not ready and buyers would have had to pay for costly valuation inspections in addition to Home Condition Reports.

“We continue to believe that HIPs will make a positive contribution to improving the operation of the housing market.  We will be formally responding to the Lords committee tomorrow."

A CLG spokesperson added:

“Home Information Packs will come into force on 1 June. They are a long-standing manifesto commitment and have already been debated and voted on several times by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.  HIPs and Energy Performance Certificates will help homeowners cut carbon emissions and save on fuel bills, and will make the homebuying and selling process more transparent.”

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End of area trial incentives

Last Friday 27 April, the HIP area trials incentives programme came to an end with more than 3,400 HIPs claimed across the eight area trials. Almost 1,300 HIPs were requested in phase 2 – where the mandatory components of the HIP are free, while the Home Condition Report (HCR) is paid for.

With over 3,400 HIPs, we now have a large enough sample to analyse and look forward to continuing to work with you as we track the HIPs that have been subsidised.

Mori will continue to track the progress of these property transactions plus area trial sales without incentives and will continue to provide regular reports to the Department.

Please note: from 6pm on Friday 27 April 2007, no subsidy was available for any HIPs produced.

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DEA Accreditation schemes approved

Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has approved a number of bodies to operate as accreditation schemes. For Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) to operate, they need to belong to an approved accreditation scheme. Each of these schemes will be setting up a member’s register holding the names of qualified and accredited energy assessors:
BRE
NES
RICS
Elmhurst
Northgate

For more information on Energy Assessors and accreditation click here

Please note: Home Inspectors (HI) can produce both Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Home Condition Reports (HCRs) as they hold dual certifications as both an HI and DEA.

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Direct marketing — order your HIP toolkit in time for 1 June

The HIPs starter pack has been put together as a toolkit to help businesses prepare for the 1 June.

The toolkit comes with leaflets, ‘for sale’ board stickers, HIPs form templates and window posters, as well as a CD of files which can be used to produce your own HIPs related promotional material.

To order up to 20 toolkits at no charge go to:
http://www.home-information.info/doc?id=62
or contact us at:
HIP Publications
PO Box 236
WETHERBY
LS23 7NB
or
phone: 0870 122 6236
fax: 0870 1226 237,
textphone: 0870 120 7405
e-mail: communities@twoten.com

Be sure to quote the HIP toolkit product code 06HIPI04196/EM2 when requesting your pack.

Look out for our flyer about the new HIPs toolkit.

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Handling HIPs booklet

A Handling Home Information Packs booklet is now available on the HIPs website. The booklet is a joint industry publication endorsed by Communities and Local Government.

Those involved in producing this publication were Asset Skills, the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP), the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Visit http://www.home-information.info/doc?id=63

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Consultation exercise on draft access guidance

CLG today issued a consultation package – Delivering Property Searches: Good practice guidance for Local Authorities and personal searchers. Please note if you would like to provide comments, responses are requested no later than 26 June 2007. Click here to read.

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