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I say this is outdated policy because within recent weeks we have had staunch attackers of the HIP come out and say that now the HIP has had time to bed in, and as the market has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!
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