7
Apr
HIPs not detering sellers...
The frequent refrain from the Conservatives has been that
Home Information Packs have deterred sellers from putting their
homes onto the market. New analysis of stock levels can now
disprove this claim according to the Association of Home
Information Pack Providers (AHIPP).
When HIPs were fully implemented in December 2007 the housing
market was about to enter very rocky water as a result of the
global financial crisis and soon sales and the number of houses
going onto the market dried up.
The Tories took advantage of the situation to suggest the market
slowdown was due to the introduction of HIPs. In a Commons debate
on 9 June 2009, Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps,
commented:
“The new Minister might want to pick up some of the
tips… and scrapping HIPs should be at the top of the list.
They are a pointless, bureaucratic waste of time, and they are
causing so much heartache. They are limiting the supply of new
housing on the market, and making it much harder for first-time
buyers to purchase properties.”
However, latest statistics from AHIPP show no correlation
between the number of new properties coming on to the housing
market and the roll out of HIPs The number of new properties for
sale started falling in April 2007, long before HIPs became law,
and was 25% down by July.
Directly after HIPs become mandatory for all properties in
December 2007, new properties coming on to the market more than
doubled (Dec 07 - Feb 08) following the traditional Christmas
slowdown. They then declined steadily over the course of 2008 as
the recession took hold. The figures are now showing a pick up in
the market – something that, according to the Tories, cannot
happen while we have HIPs.
Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, comments: “The
Conservatives have always made HIPs the whipping boy for the
decline of the market. Anyone with an ounce of sense would have
known that it was the collapse of the banks and the following
recession which forced the market to stagnate.
“I challenge Mr Shapps, particularly now that there is a
start to the recovery of stock levels, to explain this? The data
clearly shows that there is no correlation between the drop-off in
new properties coming on to the market and the full roll out of
HIPs. In fact, the level of new instructions spiked for two months
directly after the roll out, showing that other market forces and
seasonal patterns were the influencing factors.
“HIPs only cost around £250 to £300 – not
the £700 plus figure bandied about at the time of
implementation. They have sped-up the time from offer to completion
and reduced fall-throughs from 25% to as low as 9%. It is ludicrous
to attribute seller behaviour to these packs.”
An Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by AHIPP indicated that 85% of
people had not been deterred from selling as a result of the
implementation of HIPs.
http://bit.ly/bDhfQN .....Link to Govt HIPs
site