Anti-HIP petitions to become part of academic research

Monday 13th February 2012

Twon anti-Home Information Pack petitions on the Downing Street website are to be part of an academic research project.

The first petition was raised by Nick Salmon of SPLINTA, and called for first-day marketing to be allowed beyond May 31, 2008. It attracted 9,599 signatures.

The second petition was raised by estate agent Trevor Kent in 2008 and attracted 1,684 signatories before closing on January 2, 2009.

It also called for first-day marketing to be allowed to continue without agents having to wait for a HIP first. The Government had announced its intention to make it illegal for agents to market properties without a HIP in place, or face fines of £200 a day.

Both are now to be part of research by Dr Scott Wright, a fellow at the British Academy and a lecturer at Leicester University, who is looking into petitions.

The Government responded at the time to the Trevor Kent petition, saying that its proposed change would “ensure that consumers can see and use the HIP to inform their decisions about a property. These changes will also make it easier for local trading standards agencies to identify specific cases of non-compliance and enforce the HIP duties”.

The official response concluded: “There is no evidence to support the assertion that removal of the temporary first-day marketing concession will have a negative impact on the housing market.” It said that HIPs had no impact on housing transactions or prices.

Trevor Kent commented: “No wonder the Government lost the election.”