Six weeks into the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs), with over 70% of the market now requiring a HIP and we are delighted to see the sun continues to rise in the east and the world hasn’t ended. Original concerns that HIPs would deter people from moving house is difficult to validate although it has been reported that instruction rates in August for four bedroom properties were reduced, compared to earlier, albeit traditionally busier, months. To date we have found only one speculative seller that was put off selling by the price of a HIP - a tiny minority of the hundreds of instructions we have taken over the past few weeks.
HIP delivery times
As expected, there have been some missed expectations with the delivery times of HIPs. Most providers had said they would be able to complete a HIP within five days, but this appears to have been rather optimistic. Despite one of the largest HIP providers expressing concern that the delays are being causd by their use of personal search agents, there are other aspects that affect delivery performance. In particular, we had warned about the performance of some of the water companies and as is shown below, these warnings have proved to be accurate.
Drainage search return times
With only official drainage searches from the water companies allowed in a HIP, the delays that are currently being experienced in their return are starting to be time consuming. Searches are taking over four weeks with one company and we have yet to see evidence that the backlog is easing. We have already seen one HIP provider use a personal drainage search instead, which we assume to be an attempt to overcome these delays. Although currently the time pressure on search returns is not critical, performance will need to improve if realistic timescales are to be achieved with more properties coming onto the market.
Strutt and Parker / Lane Fox
Following their recent merger, two of our clients, Lane Fox and Strutt and Parker have today released their unified branding with all but two Lane Fox offices now under the new Strutt and Parker image. We wish them all the best for the future, and look forward to continue to support them in the delivery of HIPs. The feedback on the ReapIT integration for HIP ordering has been extremely positive with negotiators requiring just a single click to confirm an order with no data re-keying required.
HIPcode
This month, the Partnership became the latest signatory to the HIPcode, the de facto standard code of practice for HIP providers. The HIPcode dictates that signatories must have at least £2m professional indemnity insurance cover and that a customer redress scheme must be in place. Naturally, The Partnership fully supports the imposition of standards and regulations and is delighted to be working more closely with this standard as supported by the Association of HIP Providers to ensure professional standards in the industry are maintained.
Media Coverage
Last month, our concerns about the use of personal searches in HIPs created significant awareness in major newspapers and media. We were pleased to receive coverage on Channel 4 news with The Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Evening Standard all reporting on this issue. Although some have claimed it was a “storm in a teacup” we have already heard anecdotal reports of solicitors rejecting HIPs with personal searches and hope to bring more details of this story next month.
