HIP's face fresh criticism - 3rd Jan 2008

One of Gordon Brown?s closest ministerial allies receives strong criticism today from Labour MPs accusing her of mishandling the introduction of home information packs.

They accuse Yvette Cooper, the Housing Minister, of poor preparation and say that she lost her nerve, leading to confusion, delays and watered-down packs.

The MPs dismiss claims that the decision to postpone and then phase in the packs, which all homeowners must now pay for before putting their property up for sale, was in response to signs of a slowdown in the housing market. In unusually trenchant criticism, they say that the reasons were entirely political and blame ministers for retreating under pressure.

Many surveyors and others who trained as inspectors in preparation for home information packs were left out of pocket, and homebuyers and sellers altered their plans after Ms Cooper abandoned a key element of the packs ? home condition reports, which are now voluntary ? and delayed their implementation.

MPs on the Communities and Local Government Select Committee say: "The long and tortuous process of introducing home information packs signals another failure of delivery on [the department's] part, and the reasons for that failure lie in poor preparation and a retreat by the department?s ministerial team."

Their report adds: "We can only conclude that decisions to delay the introduction of home information packs and then to phase them in for homes of different sizes across a period of months were taken on political rather than economic grounds, owing more to a failure of nerve in the face of vocal opposition from the press and others than to the general conditions prevailing in the housing market itself."

The 11-member committee is a crossparty one, but minutes of the report show that only five MPs were present when the report was approved, none of them Conservative. Four were Labour ? the chairman, Phyllis Starkey, a long-time supporter of Mr Brown, John Cummings, Jim Dobbin and Bill Olner ? and one Liberal Democrat, John Pugh.

Ms Cooper is one of Mr Brown?s most trusted ministers and is married to Ed Balls, the Secretary for Children, Schools and Families ? often described as the Prime Minister?s right-hand man. It was their experience of trying to buy a home in her constituency of Pontefract and Castleford in 1998, the year after she became an MP, that has driven Ms Cooper?s support for the packs: the couple lost money after paying for fees and searches when a survey showed that significant work was required, forcing them to pull out of the purchase.

In their report the MPs call the introduction of the packs ? also known as Hips ? a failure, despite it being a priority of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

They also rebuke Peter Housden, the department?s top civil servant, for laying some of the blame on a shortage of inspectors. He told the committee that this was because of uncertainty over the policy, particularly when surveyors threatened legal action. The MPs said: "For the Permanent Secretary to suggest home infomation packs could not be introduced because there were not enough inspectors is casuistry. There were not enough inspectors because first watered down and then repeatedly delayed the introduction of Hips."

In her evidence to the committee, Ms Cooper also blamed a cooling in the housing market last summer. But the MPs concluded that, with an average price of £300 to £350, the packs would only have a minor impact on house sales. The packs became compulsory for all property sales last month, six months after their intended date, after ministers put back the timetable and introduced them for bigger houses first.

Grant Shapps, the Conservative housing spokesman, said: "The shambolic and secretive way in which Yvette Cooper has rolled out this botched policy is a disgrace. At a time when the housing market needs certainty and stability Labour provided chaos and confusion. Yvette Cooper should release the results of the Hips trials, apologise to hard-pressed homeowners and scrap this hated policy."

Pack of trouble
1997
the year when the idea of home information packs (HIPs) was first mooted by the Labour Party

5,000
the number of qualified energy assessors trained to provide HIPs

£200
the potential fine for selling a house without a HIP

7 to 10
the average number of days it takes to prepare HIPs

£300 to £350
the average price of a HIP

Sources: National Association of Residential Home Inspectors; Department of Communities and Local Government; Times database

For further information about HIPs, please contact us on 01903 777687 or e-mail pki@bennett-griffin.co.uk