Almost half of solicitors in the east of England - one of the areas hardest hit by the fall in house prices - think home information packs (HIPs) are a threat to their business, research seen exclusively by the Gazette revealed this week.


The survey, commissioned by Geodesys, a commercial business unit of Anglian Water, revealed that 48% of solicitors in East Anglia see HIPs as a threat. Just 22% of those surveyed had seized the initiative to add an extra income stream by preparing the packs themselves. Only 13% saw HIPs as a business opportunity.



The figures contrasted with a national survey by Searchflow last month, which showed that half of HIPs were being prepared by solicitors (see [2008] Gazette, 13 March, 1). However, 62% of the 100 East Anglian solicitors questioned expected conditions in the housing market to improve within the next six months.



Patsy Day, business development manager at Geodesys, said: 'We're seeing a very mixed picture of the property sector in the region.'



In Cambridgeshire, which was one of the HIP trial areas, Day said estate agents had been 'very proactive' and solicitors have been squeezed out of the market. However, solicitors in Norwich and Essex had taken the new opportunities in their stride, she said.



Law Society Vice President Paul Marsh said: 'It's a mixed situation across the country, but I think many solicitors cannot separate the HIPs issue from the flat market, and the East Anglian region has been badly hit by the property slump.'



He said practitioners should increase their marketing, look at ways to improve their businesses, and do some strategic thinking about where their businesses are going.



'Anyone who sits there and just hopes things will improve will fall further behind,' he added.



Catherine Baksi