Take-up of home information packs (HIPs) during the dry run of the controversial scheme has been low, the Gazette has learned.


Although some industry feedback is positive, the voluntary testing phase has also highlighted concerns over the speed with which local authority searches are obtained.



Government-funded trials of HIPs began in Bath, Southampton, Newcastle, Northampton, Huddersfield and Cambridge in November last year in advance of the compulsory national rollout on 1 June 2007.



Two months into the trial, the Department for Communities and Local Government said more than 600 packs have been prepared, with 65% containing a home condition report (HCR).



Mike Ockenden, director-general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, said it is 'still early days' for the dry run, but insisted that 'the volume is far and away greater than we had projected, which is encouraging at what is normally a quiet time of year'. He added that the mixed performance by local authorities in providing searches needed addressing by government to ensure timely production of facts.



Rob Heginbotham, sales and marketing director of national property search organisation Richards Gray, which has been producing HIPs in Newcastle, Northampton and Cambridge, said: 'The government has to address the issue of access to information required for the HIP. Until it issues and takes steps to enforce firm guidelines to stop local authorities from trying to restrict access, then there will be delays to HIP production in many areas.'



But John Cook, conveyancing partner at Newcastle firm Dickinson Dees, which has produced packs in 5% of the residential conveyancing instructions it has received since the trials began, said it had not encountered problems obtaining searches or HCRs. However, he envisaged it could be a major issue after 1 June.



Catherine Baksi