HIPS U-Turn

Home information packs (Hips) appeared to be doomed after ministers were forced into a humiliating U-Turn by delaying the packs for two months.

Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, then confused the issue even more by insisting that it would initially only apply to four-bedroom or larger houses and announcing a string of concessions to the housing industry.

The last-minute U-turn came after a legal challenge by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which said the policy would destabilise the housing market.
But many predicted that yesterday’s announcement would throw the future of the packs into doubt, and that Gordon Brown would quickly drop them when he took over.

Hips were supposed to be implemented in June last year, but were delayed for 12 months as ministers decided to drop unpopular home condition reports. Since then, ministers have insisted that they should instead include energy performance certificates (EPCs) to measure carbon efficiency.

In an emergency Commons statement Ms Kelly conceded that 2,000 inspectors would be needed to carry out the energy performance reviews by June 1 but only 520 had been fully accredited. Thousands more were in training, but there would not be enough to implement the policy in time, she said.

Michael Gove, the Tory housing spokesman, accused the Government of “arrogance and incompetence” for pressing ahead with the scheme. He said: “Ministers should now come clean, and take Hips back to the drawing board.”

She announced a further set of compromises, which allow homeowners to put their houses up for sale once they had commissioned Hips, rather than when they were received.“We are pleased we have reached an agreement with RICS and potentially avoided a lengthy court case and months of delays,” said Ms Kelly.