With HIPs - now minus the survey - set to launch in only ten months, the government must work to save its scheme, says Denis Cameron



On the day the government announced its u-turn on part of the home information pack (HIP) scheme, I was in Shropshire, presenting a seminar on HIPs to a group of solicitors and independent estate agents keen to work together to produce packs for their mutual clients. When asked whether the government would bring in HIPs on 1 June 2007, I said that the probable lack of home inspectors was likely to pose the greatest threat to the launch.



On leaving the meeting, I was nonetheless surprised to hear that ministers had decided that the HIP was no longer to contain a compulsory home condition report (HCR) and that there was just to be an energy performance certificate.



The Law Society had argued long and hard that there was no good case for the HCR being included but had always been met with obduracy on the government's part. The HCR was by far the most expensive element in the HIP. Buyers were never likely to give it much credence and the lenders had warned that they would still have to commission their own valuation.



My thoughts as to what would be left without the HCR were crystallised when I heard an estate agent say on the radio: 'Well it's just yer legals now, isn't it?' Not quite the phraseology I would have used, but I knew what he meant. The new HIP is more or less the Law Society TransAction scheme, as originally envisaged when it was launched in 1991, together with the energy performance certificate.



The next developments took place in the opposition debate on HIPs and the standing committee debate on the regulations in the House of Commons. Leading for the government on both occasions, minister Yvette Cooper gave a feisty performance. Even Michael Gove for the Conservatives admitted as much. The main bit was that the government was still absolutely determined to launch HIPs in their truncated form from June 2007.



Ms Cooper confirmed that the real problem was indeed the potential lack of home inspectors. The government has not yet completely given up on compulsory HCRs and she talked of a 'phased' programme. It was not terribly convincing and, if it ever happens, it looks to be a long way off. She spoke much about the now almost infamous dry-run but, as usual, there was no real detail.



The most worrying part was her inability to provide any details about the energy performance certificate. Questions such as 'Who will do it?', 'What will their qualifications be?', 'How long will it take to prepare?', and 'How much will it cost?' went unanswered. Lucid responses to these questions are needed sooner rather than later.



There is now a wholly unsatisfactory period of uncertainty, with the stated HIPs launch date only ten months away. The government will have to work hard over what is left of this summer to clear up the mess that it has created and ensure that, if there is to be a compulsory scheme, it is credible and useful. The Law Society will have to continue to consult with government to ensure that the ultimate product is in the interests of the public and will not work to the detriment of solicitors, including those enterprising solicitors in Shropshire.



The 'half HIP' - as it was called in the Commons - may actually be a little more 'solicitor friendly', but the profession will still need the Law Society to find a solution for any solicitors' firm to produce even these when and if they are introduced.



Denis Cameron is a member of the Law Society's HIPs task force and the council member for Central Lancashire and Northern Greater Manchester