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Housing sales 'should be restructured'
26 August, 2008The government's insistence on implementing Home Information Packs (HIPs) has hurt the housing industry and should be altered to invigorate the housing market, it has been argued.
The government's insistence on implementing Home Information Packs (HIPs) has hurt the housing industry and should be altered to invigorate the housing market, it has been argued.
Two of the country's leading housing trade bodies are joining forces in order to lobby the government over its execution of the HIPs scheme, in the hope that market stagnation will subside.
Both the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) are fighting to change the regulations, which currently come at a cost for the seller, and provide an environmental evaluation of a property.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, said: "Quite simply, the government tried to force 'square pegs into round holes' and the slower property market is making this situation worse.
"For instance, the current call for local searches to be conducted as part of a HIP is madness. Due to the length of time properties are on the market in the current climate, a majority of searches are out of date by the time the property is sold, which means they have to be repeated at extra cost to the consumer."
With sellers passing on the cost to buyers, it is argued that the system is simply not benefiting anyone, and that HIPs should be altered to become more relevant, to stimulate the housing market.
The long, drawn-out sale of British Energy (BE) to EDF Energy has come to an end after the French energy firm bought BE for £12.5 billion, it has been reported.
Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.
Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a major defeat over the government's reluctance to impose a windfall tax on energy companies, it has been reported.
The City of London has launched a campaign against Gordon Brown in order to convince him that introducing a windfall tax on energy companies should be avoided.
TaylorWimpey has reported phenomenally poor first half results for the year so far, recording a loss of £1.5 billion, it has been announced.