Tories label HIPs a farce
Four out of five homebuyers taking part in a trial of the government's controversial home information packs (Hips) never actually saw a pack, or only did so after they had made an offer on a property, it has emerged.
Almost three months after it became compulsory for all sellers to provide a Hip, figures published by the communities department showed that in trials before the scheme was rolled out only 40% of buyers were shown a pack.
Of those, half saw it after they had made an offer on their property.
Almost two-thirds of buyers told researchers they would have liked to have seen the Hip earlier in the process, but estate agents either failed to provide one or did so too late in the process for it to affect their decision.
The Conservative said the results from the trial showed the packs were a "farce".
The shadow housing minister, Grant Shapps, said: "These results reveal what we and the industry have known all along - Hips are a complete waste of time.
"With six out of 10 buyers not even seeing the pack and a third not realising they had a Hip at all, it is proving to be a very costly and bureaucratic farce."
The Liberal Democrats housing spokesman, Lembit Opik, demanded to know why the findings from the pilots had not been released before the scheme was rolled out across England and Wales in December.
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