I read with interest the letters about home information packs (HIPs) from Nick Hutchinson and Warren Robertson (see [2008] Gazette, 21 February, 14).


The government must be extremely frustrated about the current situation. When I wrote to the housing minister last year with regard to my concern about how effective HIPs would be, I was informed that more than 70% of the general public wanted more information about energy efficiency before deciding to purchase a property. I am not sure where the YouGov poll was taken but it certainly was not a straw poll of people in this area. They are entirely uninterested in HIPs and I have not had one agent report that anyone has asked to see one.



It is no coincidence that the housing market has dropped off since HIPs came in (notwithstanding the credit crunch and the Northern Rock situation). The government was fully aware that the general public was looking to avoid HIPs by seeking to sell before 1 August and that has not helped the current market slowdown.



It is also no coincidence that HIPs will have absolutely no impact on the number of abortive transactions or the speed of a transaction.



It will be an embarrassment all round if 'first day marketing' ends on 31 May given the current situation here in the south. How will we tell our client, who is very keen to market, that we have to wait four weeks for the drainage search?



HIPs will only be here to stay if the public want to embrace them and obtain the information necessary to make an informed decision.



Without a pack containing this information, they are a waste of time, effort and energy.



Mark Williams, Donaldson West, Crowborough, Sussex