The latest report of session by the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee on home information packs (HIPs) has called into question ‘whether the HIP Regulations will effectively achieve their policy objective’.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), says, ‘We have been asking the same question for some time now. There are a number of fundamental flaws with the legislation which have led us to believe that it will not improve the home buying and selling process in the way the Government suggests, and that in fact it will have a serious and negative affect on the UK housing market.
‘The government has continually refused to take the advice of stakeholders on these matters. In its report, the Merits Committee expresses its concern over the fact the legislation has so little support from major stakeholders. The committee states that it ‘cannot overlook the doubts that have been widely expressed’.