Home Information Packs: industry group defines common terms that will allow automatic exchange of documents

PISCES, the group putting together the common standard for exchange of information in conveyancing, releases its home information pack (HIP) standard this week.


Essentially, the new HIP schema is a definition of common terms to bridge the different words used to describe similar things when buying and selling property. It is this set of definitions that PISCES is releasing, which should allow disparate businesses such as estate agents, banks and law firms to exchange documents automatically.


Using an automated process is the only way HIPs can possibly work in the high-volume, low-margin business of mass conveyancing, according to Nigel Payne, managing director of mortgage business at HBOS.


'The new PISCES standard is necessary because of the sheer amount of information involved in producing a home information pack,' he said. 'It's not commercially possible unless it's done electronically. Given the number of professions involved and the different systems used in producing a HIP, an open standard is the only solution.'


The PISCES group has delivered the HIP standard in time for the 'dry run' that will take place in coming months.


Richard Barnett, founder of Southport-based Barnetts Solicitors and participating PISCES member, agreed that the development of the new schema was vital to the future roll-out of HIPs.


'I'm absolutely delighted that the PISCES members have worked so hard and successfully in producing this work in such a relatively short time. Having this facility will be an essential tool in the smooth production of the HIP and this, together with other work, will fit in well to the whole of the conveyancing process and indeed to the e-conveyancing project.'


Conveyancing factories and smaller firms alike are preparing for the introduction of HIPs in June of next year, with the Law Society among a range of organisations launching a pack before then. TM Property Service, one of the National Land Information Service (NLIS) channels, last week announced it had launched a HIPs 'supermarket'.


However, some leading conveyancing firms are not bothering to get involved in the first round of fighting for market share, preferring to wait until some maturity has set in (see [2006] Gazette, 23 March, 11). They may be waiting to see the move made by major groups such as TM, now owned by Connells, Countrywide, Halifax and Rightmove, before wading in. As Steven Foster, currently TM's chief executive, said, the market is 'saturated with organisations wanting to provide complete HIPs packages'.


The schema will be available on the PISCES Web site from today, and takes the form of an XML schema. XML, or extensible mark-up language, is in essence the successor to the HTML standard used on the Web today.


Link: www.pisces.co.uk