House sellers could prefer fine to HIP

Sunday Telegraph
By Roya Nikkha, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:16am BST 16/04/2007

The troubled home information pack scheme has been criticised as "another stealth tax" amid claims that home sellers will simply reject the expensive procedure in favour of a £200 fixed-penalty fine.
From June 1, homeowners in England and Wales will be legally obliged to supply buyers with the packs, known as HIPs, which will include a certificate that rates a property's energy efficiency. Packs will also contain details of the lease, local searches and a list of items included in the sale.
It is estimated that HIPs could cost between £400 and £650 to produce. But a shortage of qualified "housing inspectors" has prompted fears that suppliers of the packs will exploit the situation and charge fees of up to £1,000.
Home sellers who market their houses without the pack face a possible fixed-penalty fine from trading standards officers of £200. Failure to produce a pack, however, will not be a criminal offence.
Nick Salmon, the commercial director of Harrison Murray estate agents and founder of the campaign group Splinta - Seller's Pack Law Is Not The Answer - said that many homeowners would "do the maths" and risk the fine.
"There is a great deal of anger among homeowners who do not see the point of these packs and consider them yet another stealth tax," he said. "Sellers have nothing but contempt for the new law and many will go ahead without HIPs, especially as a potential fine is less than the cost of the pack."
Mr Salmon also said that the majority of homeowners were "completely in the dark" about HIPs and described the Government's publicity campaign for the packs as "pathetic".
Paul Marsh, the deputy vice-president of the Law Society, and a member of its HIPs task-force, attacked the scheme as a "crackpot idea". "With packs costing in excess of £400, sellers may as well send a £200 cheque to trading standards officers saying they don't propose to have it," he said. "I am sure most trading standards officers have better things to do than knock on people's doors to see if they have a home information pack."
Mr Marsh also claimed that consumers would be forced to waste more than £200 million on packs compiled for the 500,000 properties on the market that fail to sell each year.
Michael Gove, the shadow housing minister, attacked the Government for "entirely misconceiving and mishandling" the introduction of HIPs. "As every week goes by, a new flaw emerges with the scheme which is certain to damage the stability and health of the housing market," he said.
"The only people now behind HIPs are the Government out of their vanity to meet the deadline and the pack providers for their vested interest."
The packs are widely opposed by members of the property industry, including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the National Association of Estate Agents. Last week, it emerged that only 1,000 people have trained as inspectors, out of the Government's target of 7,400.