Should HIPs be made voluntary?

Making HIPs voluntary is not a viable option unless we all wish to be transported back into the dark age. The whole idea behind the HIP was to start the process of improving a home buying and selling process that was crying out for improvement. In fact prior to the introduction of the HIP the last change was back in 1925! If it was as easy as saying let us leave it to solicitors and other property professionals to make change through the voluntary implementation of processes such as the HIP requirements why I would ask did we not see any improvement prior to the HIP? The truth is all prior attempts such as the Law Society National Conveyancing Protocol have failed miserably. Consumers clearly deserve a more certain and streamline process for moving home but without regulation to require all solicitors to work in the same way whether they are based in London or Newcastle this will never happen. We have a system that is based on chains of transactions - if one party in that chain used a HIP and one party did not the time from acceptance of offer to exchange will only be as fast as the one without the advantage of upfront information. I am not a lover of regulation, in fact there is too much of it, however sometimes regulation is necessary where it can be shown that without it improvements for the benefit of the consumer will not come about. Whilst the Conservatives are committed to cutting red tape – regulation that hinders businesses without helping consumers, they do support regulation which improves the efficiency of markets. Good regulation should encourage competition and productivity, transparency and consumer protection. So in short the HIP and the basis this presents for further reform must and can only be built on regulation.