It’s the same old song! The ‘Mr. Shapps’ policy’ to ‘scrap’ Home Information Packs is once again the headline statement within a Times Online article that appeared yesterday. Ahead I should add of other Conservative Party housing policy statements on stamp duty and planning! Clearly according to Mr Shapps less important subjects!
Should we be surprised? Probably not as for some reason Mr Shapps has it in his head that this is a vote winner. Concerned that his Party is failing to increase its lead in the Polls, and has actually for the first time lost ground to the Labour Party, he has once gain gone public with a familiar but fast becoming tedious policy statement.
Trotting out that well known and completely unfounded statement that the HIP is fettering the recovery of the housing market, he reports (as if it was he first time he has made mention of it) that estate agents ( the ‘thinking tank’ behind Conservative housing policy ) are telling him that people are being put off from putting their homes on the market by having to pay £300 to £400 for a HIP.
When will this man learn to be honest with the public? To begin with he should disclose the research that he bases this nonsense upon, as all right minded estate agents and other property professionals know that this is not by any stretch of the imagination the true reason for the slow recovery. Why does he not talk about the lack of credit and the fear of unemployment? Does he really believe that by getting rid of the HIP he will cure the problem? If this was the case why Mr Shapps is there not a stronger property market in Northern Ireland where there is no HIP? It does raise quite an important question of does this man really have any understanding of what is actually happening within the property industry and the economy in general? Has he actually spoken to anybody other than the small group of anti-HIP estate agents?
If you have nothing new to say on the subject and are not prepared to look beyond a piece of legislation that has helped to reduce the cost of moving home and has laid the basis for reducing further the stress of moving home, please, please could we ask you to refrain from making these unhelpful and misleading statements.
Please could I also ask Mr. Shapps to check with his advisors before he makes statements on the subject of making use of what he refers to as ‘emergency powers’ to get rid of home information packs within ‘weeks’ of being elected. To begin with there is no statutory provision that will allow him to ‘scrap’ the HIP this quickly and without primary legislation. He knows this, but seems to be determined to cause havoc within the property market by making statements to this effect. Surely he must know that by making misleading remarks like this it will actually cause the damage he says his decision is designed to remedy. By hoodwinking the public he could stall the property market at a time when it is becoming stronger by the day.
Perhaps the truth is Mr. Shapps really does not care about the housing market as deep down he knows that this will not be his concern for too long as there is strong speculation that he is destined to be moved over into health. The sooner the better I say!
I too must admit that as a supporter of HIPs because of the rationale behind its introduction (I've not actually had to get one) I am getting rather bored of Grant Shapps religious zeal in continuing to announce he is getting rid of HIPs. If that is the case, its about time his alternative proposals were presented as we have yet to hear them. If we did then a sensible debate might commence as to what the next step should be. I firmly believe that HIPs have a place in the market, and especially from an information provision perspective.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Sharon
A friend of mine bought a house right at the top of the market around the time of the Northern Rock collapse. By December last year, he was made redundant.
ReplyDeleteNow house prices are (supposedly) rising, he is trapped. A combination of factors shackle him, including confidence his house would sell in reasonable time. Allied to this is his inability to pay for a HIP upfront.
One of the merits of HIPs, it was claimed, was that it would dissuade "time-wasting" speculators. Judging by the reported shortage of homesellers on the market, I'd wager estate agents would welcome more willing speculators such as my friend.
He says he would be willing to speculate were he only to risk losing "out-of-pocket" estate agent fees following a good shake of the tree.
But he is not in a position to do that under the current regime, and I can't believe he is the only one... of course, he no longer belongs to a demographic that researchers at AHIPP, or the NAEA, or the RICS, would target in surveys.
There is a lack of confidence (and credit) in the market, and HIPs, for people like my friend and many others living hand-to-mouth each month (working or not), serve only to make them more risk-averse.
The HIP industry (including AHIPP), like the City, ignored and forgot that markets do fall - there was no consideration for times when people would be priced-out of even selling their own damn house, when all this was implemented.
This affects social mobility; so arguably Grant Shapps has a powerful case - my friend, and I suspect many like him, are eagerly listening, when neither this Govt. or the HIP industry, didn't (and isn't).
(Bugger, I should've wrote that on my own blog ;) )