Hips to be rolled out to all properties
Home information packs (Hips) will be rolled-out to all properties from December 14th, the government confirmed today.
Currently only houses with three or more bedrooms are liable for the Hips, which include an energy performance certificate (EPC).
After a staggered start, housing minister Yvette Cooper today confirmed all sellers will need a Hip before marketing their property from December 14th, finally completing the government’s controversial policy.
Ms Cooper insisted the scheme will reduce up-front costs for first-time buyers.
Hips have been attacked for increasing costs for homeowners, with critics predicting these would simply be passed on to buyers.
Ms Cooper said today the average cost of a Hip has been £300 to £350, with many of these costs already incurred by sellers.
In a bid to avoid criticism, Ms Cooper stressed the environmental benefits of Hips and EPCs, which require all homes to be assessed according to their energy efficiency.
The housing minister said homes that receive a poor energy efficiency rating – approximately a fifth of all properties – will receive discounted or free help to improve their efficiency through the newly-launched Green Homes Service.
Ms Cooper said: “HIPs and EPCs are already helping consumers to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills and are cutting search costs too.
“All home buyers will be able to benefit from energy efficiency advice, with those receiving low green ratings of ‘F’ and ‘G’ especially targeted for support and grants to make improvements to cut their costs and carbon emissions.”
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) warned universal roll-out of Hips will hit first-time buyers.
The body believes today’s announcement will result in a decline of available properties, causing house prices to rise.
Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: “The housing minister needs to understand that rolling Hips out to one and two bed properties could find first-time-buyers caught between a rock and a hard place as accessibility to the market would go off the scale.
“If the housing minister genuinely wants to improve the plight of first-time-buyers, she should not continue with this flawed policy.”
The government maintains Hips are not adversely affecting the housing market.
It quotes the independent European Economics report, which today found no evidence of an impact on transactions or prices.
