Most Popular
1. Banking Crisis is Stocks Bull Market Buying Opportunity - Nadeem_Walayat
2.The Crypto Signal for the Precious Metals Market - P_Radomski_CFA
3. One Possible Outcome to a New World Order - Raymond_Matison
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
5. Apple AAPL Stock Trend and Earnings Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
6.AI, Stocks, and Gold Stocks – Connected After All - P_Radomski_CFA
7.Stock Market CHEAT SHEET - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.US Debt Ceiling Crisis Smoke and Mirrors Circus - Nadeem_Walayat
9.Silver Price May Explode - Avi_Gilburt
10.More US Banks Could Collapse -- A Lot More- EWI
Last 7 days
Stock Market Volatility (VIX) - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Investor Sentiment - 25th Mar 24
The Federal Reserve Didn't Do Anything But It Had Plenty to Say - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Breadth - 24th Mar 24
Stock Market Margin Debt Indicator - 24th Mar 24
It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - 24th Mar 24
Stocks: What to Make of All This Insider Selling- 24th Mar 24
Money Supply Continues To Fall, Economy Worsens – Investors Don’t Care - 24th Mar 24
Get an Edge in the Crypto Market with Order Flow - 24th Mar 24
US Presidential Election Cycle and Recessions - 18th Mar 24
US Recession Already Happened in 2022! - 18th Mar 24
AI can now remember everything you say - 18th Mar 24
Bitcoin Crypto Mania 2024 - MicroStrategy MSTR Blow off Top! - 14th Mar 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - 11th Mar 24
Gold and the Long-Term Inflation Cycle - 11th Mar 24
Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - 11th Mar 24
Two Reasons The Fed Manipulates Interest Rates - 11th Mar 24
US Dollar Trend 2024 - 9th Mar 2024
The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - 9th Mar 2024
Investors Don’t Believe the Gold Rally, Still Prefer General Stocks - 9th Mar 2024
Paper Gold Vs. Real Gold: It's Important to Know the Difference - 9th Mar 2024
Stocks: What This "Record Extreme" Indicator May Be Signaling - 9th Mar 2024
My 3 Favorite Trade Setups - Elliott Wave Course - 9th Mar 2024
Bitcoin Crypto Bubble Mania! - 4th Mar 2024
US Interest Rates - When WIll the Fed Pivot - 1st Mar 2024
S&P Stock Market Real Earnings Yield - 29th Feb 2024
US Unemployment is a Fake Statistic - 29th Feb 2024
U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - 29th Feb 2024
What a Breakdown in Silver Mining Stocks! What an Opportunity! - 29th Feb 2024
Why AI will Soon become SA - Synthetic Intelligence - The Machine Learning Megatrend - 29th Feb 2024
Keep Calm and Carry on Buying Quantum AI Tech Stocks - 19th Feb 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

UK Home Information Packs (HIPs) on the Rack ?

Housing-Market / UK Housing May 29, 2007 - 07:06 PM GMT

By: Submissions

Housing-Market The looming introduction of home information packs (Hips) will no doubt have had many property investors and landlords scratching their chins and wondering whether they would cost more than they could possible save.

While the packs might be a welcome boost for landlords looking to expand their portfolio, those aiming to sell off a few properties could have regarded them as one extra headache.


Now, however, the government has announced that the much-maligned Hips will be postponed until August 1st 2007 at the earliest - a decision which has been greeted with open arms and derision in equal measure.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) - the members of which are responsible for 98 per cent of residential mortgage lending - has urged the government to take a long hard look at Hips before deciding whether they really are the best measure to reform a home buying process that leaves many first-time buyers grasping at thin air when trying to get a foothold on the slippery property ladder.

While cautiously supporting the energy performance certificate, the body's director general Michael Coogan warned that the industry is now more doubtful than ever as to the likelihood of their success, if introduced.

"This cannot be an appropriate way to make policy," he remarked.

"With the fundamental lack of confidence that now exists in them [Hips], we urge the government to ditch the gold-plating and concentrate on better ways of delivering its objectives."

However, the CML criticism pales in comparison with the stinging barbs which have come the government's way from Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com. The finance expert accused the government of adding "confusion to chaos" and called for it to "scrap the whole concept" of Hips.

"Since watering down the legislation it has become nothing but a political slurry and the most unsupported piece of legislation I have known," said Ms Cuming.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (Ahipp), on the other hand, has officially registered its "utter disappointment" that the legislation will not come into force as planned. Having been a stalwart supporter of the packs throughout the criticism and raised eyebrows they have faced, Ahipp's director general Mike Ockenden claims that it is consumers and the environment who will pay the cost of the government's delay.

According to Mr Ockenden, the packs would have been a great boost to both those involved in the buying and selling processes, with further time and money to be wasted until they are implemented.

So whether landlords are for or against the packs, it seems the inevitability of one eventually having to deal with them in some regard may just have become a lot less so.

By Jim Watson

http://www.assetz.co.uk/


© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in