1st June 2007 - Inspector registration website launched

On the day in which HIPs were due to go live, a new website has been launched showing the number of energy inspectors that are certified and ready to carry out inspections.

Until now, there has been little transparency about the actual numbers of inspectors completing their assessment. To address this, the site shows how many have actually qualified, with every registration being validated for authenticity.

As one of the founders, Neil Kurz, explained “We want to do something positive that will in some small way show the government that the industry is ready for business”

Take up has been extremely rapid, and within 24 hours of the site going live, nearly 200 registrations have been received.

Click here for the www.deahi.co.uk website

Click image for website

25th May - DCLG commits to HIPs for August 1st

The DCLG has made its first formal response since the announcement earlier this week of a delay to the introduction of HIPs.

In an open letter to home inspectors and domestic energy assessors, the DCLG has explained the reasons for the delay, mainly due to the judicial action sought by RICS. RICS had contended that Energy Certificates should be allowed to be up 10 years old, rather than 3 months old upon inclusion in the HIP.

In addition, the letter explains that although 3,200 people had passed their DEA exams, insufficient have completed the accreditation process - hence the reason for the delay until August 1st.

The letter may be downloaded here

22nd May - Government delays introduction of HIPs

In an unexpected move, the government has today announced a number of changes to the HIP programme. The main changes are;

• HIPs will become compulsory on August 1st 2007 for 4 bedroom or larger houses
• Properties may be marketed as soon as a HIP has been commissioned
• EPCs may be up to 12 months, rather than 3 months old upon first inclusion.

Details of the government press release can be found here

16th May - Opposition vote defeated

An opposition motion in the House of Commons, challenging the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) has been defeated.

The motion was part of a challenge to the new regulations that became official on 19th April. After a heated exchange between the two parties, the vote was defeated with a clear majority of 72, with the government obtaining 306 votes to the opposition’s 234.

While there remains the prospect of a Lords debate on 22nd May, this defeat means that HIPs are likely to become law on June 1st as planned.

15th April - Hamptons offers HIPs for free

Hamptons estate agents (www.hamptons.co.uk) have announced they will be providing clients who instruct them with a free HIP.

This is the first major agent to announce such an offer and includes providing all the compulsory items in a HIP, which they claim will normally cost £500.

Hamptons state that the offer may be withdrawn at any time, and sellers may have to pay a fee if they withdraw their property from sale within 12 months of instruction.

Click here for the announcement on their website

29th March - Final HIP Regulations published

The final regulations for HIPs are published, giving full details of the rules governing their use, with only a few changes made;

• HIPs only needed on properties already on market at June 1st 2007, after 31/12/07
• Properties may be marketed with limited set of documents
• EPC must be the first document in the HIP
• New HIP needed only if property off market for over a year
• Personal search companies can still insure against incomplete data in their reports

Click here for the overview

19th March - National consumer marketing campaign

The government has given details of the start of a major consumer awareness campaign for HIPs.

Addressing the widespread concerns of agents about a lack of awareness from consumers, from this Sunday, the 25th March, there will be full page advertisments in the Mail on Sunday,Sunday Express, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, Independent on Sunday and the Observer. This will be followed in the next week with more advertisments in the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Telegraph, The Times, Independent, Guardian, Metro, London Lite and CityAM.