AHIPP challenges local authorities over HIP

23/6/2008
The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has challenged local authorities to sort out their handling of home information packs (HIPs) or ‘face the consequences’ in due course.

HIPs are presently subject to temporary measures put in the place by the Government that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. One of these measures allows private sector search companies to use insurance to cover risks to consumers where local authorities withhold information from them to compile full searches.
The body said that should this arrangement expire at the end of the year, local authorities would find themselves subject to massive pressure and negative publicity if they were not in a position to provide access to the information that private search companies needed to do their job.

Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, said while it was important to acknowledge that there were some excellent authorities that did not restrict access to the information that they maintained, they were in the minority.

He explained: “Some 75% of all authorities do not provide access in accordance with the Government’s own guidelines and the clock is ticking with only six months to go to the end of the year. I will be writing to the chief executives of those authorities to provide a clear challenge to sort this unacceptable situation out.”