PACKS: MPs attack delays spurred by political motives
Poor preparation, lack of ministerial nerve, and failure to engage with stakeholders were to blame for the 'long and tortuous' introduction of the controversial home information packs (HIPs), according to a group of MPs.



The Communities and Local Government select committee said in a report last week that the lack of home inspectors, cited by the Department of Communities and Local Government as the reason for problems with introducing HIPs, was attributable to the uncertainty created by diluting the packs and repeatedly delaying their introduction.



The committee concluded: 'Decisions to delay the introduction of HIPs and then to phase them in for homes of different sizes across a period of months were taken on political rather than economic grounds, owing more to a failure of nerve in the face of vocal opposition from the press and others than to the general conditions prevailing in the housing market itself.'



Housing minister Iain Wright responded: 'We have taken a sensible and thoughtful approach to ensure smooth implementation... it was not possible to introduce HIPs in June because of the RICS [Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors] legal action against the energy performance certificate and, due to the resulting uncertainty, the number of assessors available.'



Law Society Vice-President Paul Marsh said: 'It confirms the whole exercise was a shambles from start to finish.'



Now that HIPs have been implemented for all properties, the Council for the National Land Information Service has warned that the range and accuracy of property search information contained in many HIPs may be inadequate as pack providers choose their searches on price, rather than quality, grounds.



Catherine Baksi