Hips loophole claim 'is propaganda'

15-Jun-2007

Claims that property sellers will not have to produce a Home information pack (Hip) when exchanging contracts with first time buyers or other interested parties have been dismissed as "typical anti-Hip propaganda" by an industry official.

Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) director general Mike Ockenden has said that the claims, made by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), are "totally unfounded".

Rics had claimed that it had discoverered a legal loophole which meant that it was only necessary for sellers to prove they had ordered a Hip at the point of sale.

But Mr Ockenden said he found such claims extraordinary given that Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf had recently extolled the virtues of Hips in a national newspaper article.

"Is he now advising consumers to steer away from Hips, hence away from the many benefits the packs will hold - the majority of which he has clearly identified [in the article]– this is surely not in the best interest of the consumer?" Mr Ockenden questioned.

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