Hips – First day marketing delayed

The government has delayed plans that require homeowners to produce a home information pack (Hip) before they put their property on the market, it was announced today.

Sellers had been told that from June 1 they would have to have the pack ready before they could put their homes on the market.

But in a written statement the housing minister, Caroline Flint, said the current rules, which allow a home to be put up for sale as long as a pack has been commissioned, would remain in place until the end of the year.

She said homeowners had been temporarily allowed to market their property without a Hip in order to help smooth the implementation of the scheme.

"Our evidence shows that it has been effective in doing this. However, we believe that a further period of the flexibility provided by the measure would be prudent," she added.

Temporary arrangements to let leasehold homes be marketed without including the full paperwork in the pack were also extended to the end of the year.

The minister said Hips had brought benefits to consumers, with 640,000 prepared so far - the majority within seven to 14 days.

But she said work needed to be done to improve the process, including developing a new set of standards for delivering the packs.

"We also want to ensure all consumers are seeing the vital information in a Hip early in the process so they can fully benefit," said Flint.

"Alongside the development of a new industry code, we will continue to work with the industry to promote higher and consistent standards of practice on the delivery of Hips."

The government had played down speculation about a delay, saying just yesterday that no decision had been taken to change its plans.