Kirstie Allsopp and Grant Shapps - you should both feel very ashamed

Sorry for the time it has taken me to update my blog  - it  has been a very busy period... but I am now back!

The 'C' rated TV celebrity, Kirstie Allsopp, and the Yorkshire Wheeltapper and Shunters would be front man MP Eric Pickles could not resist the opportunity last week to gloat at the massive job loss, financial ruin and general misery inflicted by the government’s decision to suspend the HIP regulations.

A cheap PR stunt and one which Grant Shapps the Minister of Housing had held in the run up to the election. The only difference this time was that we were looking at the announcement of government policy.

Why wheel out Kirstie Allsopp? What has she achieved in her short TV life time to improve our ailing home buying process? Did I miss something; was she recently elected as an MP? She should be ashamed of herself getting involved in party style celebrations surrounding the wholly unnecessary demise of a well established industry employing over 3000 people.

What makes this even more difficult is the fact that it was not too long ago that Miss Allsopp was proclaiming the very same benefits that were actually being delivered by the HIP. She professes to be a housing expert but when it comes down to it she is nothing other than a hired gun. Let's wheel out Kirstie she will make the delivery of a decision which we know will destroy people’s life more palatable to the public. Sorry Kirstie you have been used and your integrity must as a result be damaged.

I wonder if Mr Pickles, who was clearly out to make a name for himself (as up until then he has was always the drummer in the band), told Kirstie when she was hired the real truth. Did he tell her that his colleague Grant Shapps had made a written commitment to the HIP industry that he would consult before taking any action to suspend? A promise which he has broken.

The word of a MP is never a reliable one, but in a government which purports to be based on the principle of fairness one just has to wonder what lies ahead for us all.

So what now? Not much really other than trying to pick up the pieces and getting on with life. Yes there will be a consideration of legal options, but at the end of the day one has to begin to accept that the industry was the victim of political spite and goal scoring. Not sure why anyone in the future will feel safe in investing time and money in any new government led venture.

One final message - let's get our party hats ready as I am sure future policy implementation for government will not be this easy! What goes around comes around!

For those interested in joining the legal action group please contact David Jones at davidjones@m-j-p.co.uk

Jumping the gun, or sheer arrogance?

On the day when the electorate goes to the polls to decide who should be the next government I find myself once again having to highlight the shortcomings of one of  my local MPs.

Picking up last week’s local property supplement I was shocked to find Chloe Smith, the local Conservative MP, passing to the public what is clearly a highly misleading statement about the Conservative’s intention to ‘scrap’ home information packs. Leaving to one side the arrogance, in line with that seen in the Times at the weekend with David Cameron preparing his diary in readiness for when he becomes Prime Minister, to say as she did, HIPs would be history within 2 weeks of her party becoming the next government was totally wrong.

There is no possible way that any government could pass legislation that quickly, even if we were talking about a government with a large working majority! Making such a statement highlights a frightening lack of knowledge of parliamentary process, as well as a total disregard to how such a statement could very well contribute to a stalling of the still delicate property market.

No one will really know until tomorrow or the weekend what is likely to happen on the political front, but if the Conservatives do succeed and are able to govern, given what is happening in Greece, and bearing in mind the much more important debt related issues, I really can not see that the HIP will be top of the target list. I may be mistaken, but if I am it really says all you need to know about Conservative priorities!

I am also startled about the failure of this recently appointed MP to make statements without thought for those within the industry working within local constituencies who through no fault of their own will be adversely affected by a policy that is now clearly out of line with current line of thinking of a growing number of property professionals. Job loss and a clueless destruction of entrepreneurship spirit simply do not register on the radar. Clearly potholes are far more important!

I say this is outdated policy because within recent weeks we have had staunch attackers of the HIP come out and say that now the HIP has had time to bed in, and as the market has recently picked up, perhaps it would be rash to simply abandon the HIP without first pausing for thought. As I have said before, ironically, if the HIP goes that the cost of moving will not decrease, but will increase by around £100. Moreover the time it takes to get into your new home will be much longer. On top of this will be the misery of a return to an increase in failed transactions and the loss of money that goes with it.

I just wish we could for once rely on a politician to tell us the whole story!