HIPs removal will save public £900m, says Pickles

Monday 19th July 2010
Suspending HIPs has boosted the housing market, while their eventual abolition will save the public just under £900m in the next ten years.

Eric Pickles, CLG secretary of state, also said there was “joy and happiness” among estate agents “throughout the land” at the demise of HIPs, that he planned to speed up the introduction of e-conveyancing, and that his Government is in favour of house sales, not bureaucracy.

However, he appeared to dodge answering a question on how many jobs had been lost in the HIP industry.

Here is the somewhat spirited question and answer session in the Commons last week.

Eric Pickles: The suspension of HIPs has given a much-needed boost to the housing market. Reports from the industry suggest that the number of new homes coming on to the market has increased by more than one third since HIPs were suspended. We have also estimated that abolishing HIPs could save consumers just short of £900m over the next ten years.

Jessica Lee (Erewash, Con): Estate agents in Erewash have conveyed to me their relief at the Home Information Pack scheme being abolished. Indeed, one estate agent has just described the scheme to me as being a complete barrier to people selling their homes. Can the Secretary of State inform the House whether that sentiment is shared by other people working in the housing sector across the country?

Pickles: I am delighted to inform my Hon Friend that joy and happiness among estate agents is not confined to Erewash. Throughout the land, there is a general understanding that the drag anchor that HIPs were is no longer a constraint on the housing market.

Adam Holloway (Gravesham, Con): What further plans does the Secretary of State have to roll out that happiness and smooth the conveyancing process?

Pickles: I am all for spreading as much joy and happiness, and indeed love, as I can, where’er I go. It was clear even from the trials that HIPs were going to be a real mess. We now need to look to the future and at what can be done to speed up transactions. I know that my right Hon Friend the Minister for Housing is looking at ways to speed up the introduction of e-conveyancing.

Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test, Lab): Why has the Secretary of State decided, alongside the abolition of HIPs, that energy performance certificates should no longer be required at the point when a house is initially viewed for purchase? Does he intend to downgrade the importance of those as well?

Pickles: Gracious, no. Indeed, under our green deal, energy certificates will perform a much more important role. They will be about bringing the price of energy down and ensuring that somebody with a house that has a good energy certificate does well, because we want to get houses on to the market. We will insist that the energy certificate be commissioned and in place before the sale takes place. It is about speeding things up: the Hon Gentleman is not familiar with that idea. We are in favour of house sales, not bureaucracy.

Christopher Leslie (Nottingham East, Lab): I am glad to hear that the Right Hon Gentleman thought deeply about the consequences of removing the Home Information Pack arrangement, but in his careful and calculated assessment, did he work out the number of people whose jobs might be affected? Clearly a number of people across the housing market professions have been gearing up to work in that area and will now no longer have that employment. How many people?

Pickles: When the Hon Gentleman was in another job, during his brief inter-regnum between spells in this place, he used to advise me solidly to cut away waste and speed things up, and I have followed that advice. HIPs were just part of a service that was provided. We have just heard from Dr Whitehead about energy certificates, and a number of such services are available. It has to be said that it is not as though the removal of HIPs came as a shock. It appeared clearly in the manifestos of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, and in the Coalition Document.