Are HIPs working for you? asks Andrew Stenning
There have been some calls in the past to scrap HIPs which have been backed by statements such as “it would slow the market down” and “it increases costs involved in buying and selling”.
However, a recent poll has been commissioned with over 175 housing industry professionals, which included mortgage lenders, estate agents and property investors who said that they were in favour of HIPs.
Grant Shapps, shadow housing minister for the conservatives, has in the past been clear about the conservatives’ view on scrapping HIPs.
However, it is also worth mentioning that their view is changing as they recently indicated approval of an exchange ready HIP, we can only conclude that they are now beginning to understand the benefits HIPs bring to the conveyancing process.
It is also worth remembering that the majority of information contained within a HIP was always required during the buying and selling process. The Property Information Questionnaire is the most recent addition to the HIP and adds even further quality to the information contained within the pack. By including all this