Will triumph for the Tories spell the end for Home Information Packs?

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Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps has recently reconfirmed his pledge to scrap Home Information Packs (HIPs) if the Conservative Party succeeds in next year’s General Election. Not so widely reported, but potentially more damaging for struggling Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) is his plan to move the requirement for an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to the end of the house buying process. Summing this up Shapps said “We will scrap the discredited HIPs, liberating EPCs to genuinely help people improve the environmental standing of their property”.

 
In response, The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has sought legal advice to see what it could do to prevent this from happening. Ashley King, AHIPP Chairman has stated that “there are several grounds upon which the HIP industry could mount an effective legal challenge to any attempt to scrap or suspend HIPS”.
 
However, apart from the pack providers and DEAs, there seems little chance of this course of action gaining much support from anyone else. From the very beginning solicitors, estate agents and the public have been against HIPs which are seen to be yet another example of red-tape adding little or no actual value to the property selling process. 
 
This sentiment seems to be backed up by research which suggests that up to 80% of estate agents believe that the number of sellers coming onto the market would substantially increase if HIPs were scratched. Commenting on the general shortage of properties currently on the market Jonathon Haward, managing director of County Homesearch, said “We believe that 50% more houses would come to market if sellers didn’t have to commission a HIP before deciding to sell”.
 
So what will happen if we have a Conservative Government in 2010?
 
Whilst AHIPP are suggesting that HIPs as we know them today could transform themselves into something which would be more acceptable to the industry and the public, the likelihood of it surviving in any form whatsoever must be looking pretty slim. The idea of simply getting rid of HIPs must be too attractive to a new Government looking for an instant and popular win with the electorate. To implement some streamlined, watered-down version would simply make them look like ditherers, something they have been keen to accuse the Brown Government of in recent times.
 
As to the question of Energy Assesments, that is a little more complex. Whilst moving their production to the end of the sales process sounds straightforward enough, what about the rental market, public buildings and commercial property? When will an EPC be required for these types of property? If we just consider residential sales there could be a significant impact on what is already a very beleaguered DEA workforce, the majority of which are self-employed. Even in a good market around 40% of properties fail to sell which would mean a significant knock-on effect on the number of EPCs required. With many DEAs already struggling to earn a living and significant numbers throwing in the towel and walking away this could be the final straw.
 
And it is this final straw, the loss of jobs, livelihoods and the millions of pounds that individuals and companies have invested which would ensue, that may cause the Conservatives to pause for thought. Whilst as an industry the Home Information  Pack and Energy Performance Certificate sector is still very young, it still employs around 20,000 people. In the middle of probably the worst recession in 100 years, would any politician want to put that many people in the employment line for the sake of an easy public relations win? I guess we will have to wait and see.
 
 

Comments

Conservative plans for HIPS / EPCs

On November 18th, 2009 chrisiread says:

As part of the research for this article I contacted Mr Shapps to see if he had any thoughts on what effect his changes may have on the HIP/EA community. What follows is a very informative email that I received from his office.

Dear Chris,

Many thanks for taking the time to write to Grant Shapps regarding Energy Performance Certificates and Home Information Packs. Grant’s asked me to thank you and to reply on his behalf.

Conservatives have always been very clear about HIPs and voted against them from the outset. It’s not therefore that surprising that Grant has said that a future Conservative Government will abolish them.

Grant fully appreciates how difficult this is for people in your position and shares your anger about the time and money you have spent.

We believe that this Government has led you up the garden path by introducing a needlessly bureaucratic, expensive and largely pointless piece of legislation and we have every sympathy for someone in your position. However, it would seem to that the people to blame are the ones currently in power. We have been consistent in our intentions and have warned the market place that HIPs didn’t enjoy our support throughout.

As a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor you may be interested to know that Conservatives are very strong supporters of, and want to enhance the credibility and effectiveness of, the EPC. We want EPCs to be a more powerful source of information on the current and potential energy efficiency of homes, to help create a behavioural shift to make the existing housing stock more efficient. We are aware of the bad practice that is out there with regards to mass production of EPCs and this also needs to be addressed.

Furthermore, under our Energy Efficiency Retrofit in Homes policy – the ‘Green Plan’ – 400,000 households a year could require an energy assessment and recommendations tailored to their house. We hope this will be an opportunity for DEAs and their businesses.

The example of Northern Ireland shows how EPCs can be implemented without the need for Home Information Packs. The Government’s own Better Regulation Commission has warned that in England and Wales Home Information Packs have imposed “additional administrative burdens without adequate justification” which “goes beyond the requirements of the directive”, with “no supporting evidence to justify this gold plating”.

Under Conservative plans, Energy Performance Certificates would be maintained, but they would last up to ten years. It is inconsistent that currently an EPC is valid for up to ten years for a rented property, but only three years for a residential sale. We will also allow homes to be advertised and put on the market once an EPC has been commissioned. These rules operate in Northern Ireland and such “first day marketing” provisions were in place in England and Wales before the Government changed the regulations in April 2009; the market has been harmed by Ministers fiddling with the rules yet again.

Collectively, these changes will remove a damaging barrier to the housing market, whilst ensuring consumers have access to environmental information in a proportionate manner.

Conservatives are committed to reducing Britain ’s carbon emissions and to meeting our obligations under the Climate Change Act. You may be interested to know that as part of our comprehensive energy policy, we have pledged a ‘Just Do It’ scheme to retrofit energy efficiency measures in homes. In addition, our Carbon Co-operation Plan will provide an incentive for employers to help employees ‘green up’ their homes. We will allow employers who are subject to mandatory schemes that require them to cut carbon emissions to count the carbon reductions they achieve in employees’ homes towards their own emissions reduction targets. Domestic Energy Assessors will have an important role in helping deliver these policies.

Best regards,

David O’Leary
________________________
David O'Leary
Office of Grant Shapps MP
Shadow Minister for Housing

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