Politicians - why the HIP/EPC roll-out was a sham
So how is it that the HIP and EPC roll-out have been such a shambles? Well there are of course many reasons, but certainly when their have been more baton changes than the Olympic Torch relay, then with a boss never in post for longer than the time it takes to settle in, the day-to-day role of delivering policy just becomes something left to civil servants and consultants to exploit for their own ends. This inevitably involves horse-trading for the civil servants who have inter-department rivalry to deal with, whereas at least the consultants are more obvious, they are in it for the money. Pure fee-earning for helping the civil servants to deliver the tasks they have been given.
A very brief history of HIPs
A proposal to address the problem of gazumping was first made in the 1997 Labour Party manifesto. Research after the election revealed that around 28% of sales fell before exchange of contracts, with gazumping occurring in fewer than 2% of sales. The emphasis subsequently moved to the benefits of increased speed, transparency and consumer friendliness.
Home Information Packs were announced in the Queen's Speech in November 2003.
Implementation of HIPs got delayed until finally a phased roll-out in the second half of 2007 went ahead.
and a brief history of Energy Performance Certificates
EPCs are inherently linked to the Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD)2002/91/EC of 16 December 2002. The Directive came into force on 4th January 2003 and had to be implemented by the EU Member States at the latest on 4 January 2006. Only for 2 requirements (certifications and inspections), could member states, because of lack of qualified and/or accredited experts, have an additional period of three years (before January 2009) to apply fully. Clearly in this case, England and Wales chose to delay the roll-out of EPCs as they were considered to be an inherent part of the HIPs and it was HIPs themselves that were, and still are, politically difficult territory for the existing Government.
So the point to draw from the above is that we have had quite some years to prepare the country for HIPs and EPCs. Now lets take a look at who has been charged with delivering government policy on housing...
Housing Ministers since Labour got elected in May 1997
May 97 - Aug 99 Hilary Armstrong
Aug 99 - Jun 01 Nick Raynsford
Jun 01 - May 02 Lord Falconer
May 02 - Jun 03 Lord Rooker
Jun 03 - May 05 Keith Hill
May 05 - Jan 08 Yvette Cooper (with Ruth Kelly pretending to show ownership)
Jan 08 - Oct 08 Caroline Flint
Oct 08 - present Margaret Beckett
Well thats quite a line-up! No wonder HIPs and EPCs have gone badly, no-one ever got to grips with the delivery of the policy. Well thats not quite true, hats off to Michael Gove who, of all the shadow Housing Ministers, was the most effective at continuously being a thorn in the side of Government Ministers.
A very brief history of HIPs
A proposal to address the problem of gazumping was first made in the 1997 Labour Party manifesto. Research after the election revealed that around 28% of sales fell before exchange of contracts, with gazumping occurring in fewer than 2% of sales. The emphasis subsequently moved to the benefits of increased speed, transparency and consumer friendliness.
Home Information Packs were announced in the Queen's Speech in November 2003.
Implementation of HIPs got delayed until finally a phased roll-out in the second half of 2007 went ahead.
and a brief history of Energy Performance Certificates
EPCs are inherently linked to the Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD)2002/91/EC of 16 December 2002. The Directive came into force on 4th January 2003 and had to be implemented by the EU Member States at the latest on 4 January 2006. Only for 2 requirements (certifications and inspections), could member states, because of lack of qualified and/or accredited experts, have an additional period of three years (before January 2009) to apply fully. Clearly in this case, England and Wales chose to delay the roll-out of EPCs as they were considered to be an inherent part of the HIPs and it was HIPs themselves that were, and still are, politically difficult territory for the existing Government.
So the point to draw from the above is that we have had quite some years to prepare the country for HIPs and EPCs. Now lets take a look at who has been charged with delivering government policy on housing...
Housing Ministers since Labour got elected in May 1997
May 97 - Aug 99 Hilary Armstrong
Aug 99 - Jun 01 Nick Raynsford
Jun 01 - May 02 Lord Falconer
May 02 - Jun 03 Lord Rooker
Jun 03 - May 05 Keith Hill
May 05 - Jan 08 Yvette Cooper (with Ruth Kelly pretending to show ownership)
Jan 08 - Oct 08 Caroline Flint
Oct 08 - present Margaret Beckett
Well thats quite a line-up! No wonder HIPs and EPCs have gone badly, no-one ever got to grips with the delivery of the policy. Well thats not quite true, hats off to Michael Gove who, of all the shadow Housing Ministers, was the most effective at continuously being a thorn in the side of Government Ministers.
posted by Neil Kurz at
08:30
4 Comments:
You forgot Ruth Kelly old bean!
Nah, she was heading a far bigger department and was merely Yvette Coopers boss. She seemed extremely disinterested in the whole HIP/EPC thing when I met her.
HIPs are here to stay, but only if they continue to improve and offer added value.
The next phase of their development will be the "exchange ready" HIP which will include contracts. planning information and replies to standard enquires plus a full official local authority search ( not the half- cocked personal searches which have sprung up exponentially). these HIPs will cut the times to exchange especially if the Buyer has already a mortgage agreed in principle.
The Conservatives are still in the process of compiling information on HIPs. It would be highly unlikely they would seek to scrap a product which although flawed at inception had evovled into something worthwhile and value for money
To some extent I agree with you Paul. I want to see MORE in the HIP, and when we get results that demonstrate good HIPs save time when moving then maybe agents will get interested- they certainly should since their fall-through rates are now up to 40-45% according to the largest private estate agency group in the UK!
Property Information Questionnaires may be a start, but if this is going to really succeed, lets make sure both the Law Society and Council for Licenced Conveyancers at least half-nod at the tone and number of questions included. I know they may continue to be worried that their role could be diminished and their fees squeezed but I don't believe it to be the case at all. Any proactive solicitor / conveyancer should be following up any purchase some weeks later with a reminder that a will is a really good idea so get a date/time sorted to arrange that and so on. Plenty of opportunities out there, its having the ability to see them and then go and exploit them.
As an aside Paul, surely the removal of the insurance-backing for the elements of the personal search that lazy searchers are leaving empty or claiming no access will encourage an improvement in standards of personal search companies?
Coming back to your main point, I'd like to see a situation where an offer cannot be formally accepted and no Memorandum of Sale drawn up by the agent until a mortgage offer has been received- put the onus on the buyer to show commitment- if it takes a £500 deposit too, so be it- its good enough for much of the rental industry!
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