ies are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the schemeWhether Home Information Packs (HIPs) will or won't take effect is a theme that has been debated endlessly over the past few weeks and months. Leaves you thinking that everything that can be said has already been said? Yet there as many different splinter discussions as there are minutes in the day, there appear to be four main areas currently under debate:

1. Whether HIPs will actually be implemented on 1 June;
2. If they do go ahead, whether they will be in the format currently agreed by the government;
3. The effect they will have on the housing market, and;
4. What effect they will have on the Mortgage and Estate Agent industries.

After two years of preparation, some strong discussions, and a couple of u-turns, Home Information Packs (HIPs) are set to go live on 1 June this year. Originally intended as a substantial modification that would revolutionise the manner in which properties are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the scheme

ferent splinter discussions as there are minutes in the day, there appear to be four main areas currently under debate:

1. Whether HIPs will actually be implemented on 1 June;
2. If they do go ahead, whether they will be in the format currently agreed by the government;
3. The effect they will have on the housing market, and;
4. What effect they will have on the Mortgage and Estate Agent industries.

After two years of preparation, some strong discussions, and a couple of u-turns, Home Information Packs (HIPs) are set to go live on 1 June this year. Originally intended as a substantial modification that would revolutionise the manner in which properties are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the scheme

ill be in the format currently agreed by the government;

The effect they will have on the housing market, and;

What effect they will have on the Mortgage and Estate Agent industries.

After two years of preparation, some strong discussions, and a couple of u-turns, Home Information Packs (HIPs) are set to go live on 1 June this year. Originally intended as a substantial modification that would revolutionise the manner in which properties are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the scheme

rs of preparation, some strong discussions, and a couple of u-turns, Home Information Packs (HIPs) are set to go live on 1 June this year. Originally intended as a substantial modification that would revolutionise the manner in which properties are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the schemeies are purchased and sold, HIPs were intended to make house sales quicker and cheaper, by including a basic survey - the Home Condition Report (HCR) - and search details in the information provided by the seller. Two years on, the scheme has been comparatively watered down.

Last Summer research among over 1,000 mortgage brokers showed some strong concerns about the content and timing of the HIPs launch. Not long after the research was conducted, the government conceded that putting a HCR in the Home Information Pack was possibly not the best of ideas, mainly because it was becoming increasingly unlikely that the necessary 7,000 home inspectors would be recruited and trained in time for the launch.

Take a look at the government website on Home Information Packs and you will see that what was originally planned as an advancement to the system of house purchase has nearly turned into a green initiative on energy saving - not a bad thing, but not quite what was intended when the scheme was devised. So, as the proposition now stands, the first document in the HIP will not be a report on the condition of the property. Instead, it will be an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)