Property Sellers Rush to Beat HIPs Deadline

Property sellers are rushing to complete their deals ahead of next month's introduction of the government's home information packs (HIPs).

Property sellers are rushing to complete their deals ahead of next month's introduction of the government's controversial home information packs (HIPs), a survey shows.

New instructions to sell rose for the second consecutive month in April after the longest decline in seven years, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) latest housing market survey.

It attributed the pick-up to the planned introduction of the HIPs in England and Wales on 1 June, rather than to any decline in the state of household finances.

Surveyors report that increasing numbers of sellers are listing their properties early to avoid the upfront cost of assembling the packs, expected to come in at around 500 pounds.

As a result, the stock of unsold property on surveyors' books rose for the first time since November and, as sales per surveyor slowed, the ratio of completed sales to the stock of available property fell for the first time in almost a year.

RICS spokesman Ian Perry said: "The fear of paying the upfront buying costs of HIPs has pushed more property onto the market.

"This will continue throughout May, but conditions should tighten if HIPs go ahead on June 1 as sellers withdraw from the market."

Opposition to HIPs has failed to die down, despite the government and some industry stakeholders vowing to press ahead with the move.

The packs are aimed at making the home-buying process more efficient, cutting the number of transactions that fall through and encouraging homeowners to reduce energy consumption.

But critics say they will bring little benefit to consumers and have an adverse effect on the housing market.

The RICS report -- which showed that house prices rose for the 18th consecutive month in April despite the increase in supply -- comes a day after the Institution hosted an "emergency briefing" for MPs and peers to try to persuade politicians to support its call for the packs to be delayed.

There will be a Commons debate on the subject on Wednesday.

That follows the tabling of a motion by Conservative leader David Cameron, calling for the regulations to be annulled.

A second debate in the House of Lords is due to take place on 22 May.

A Lords committee said earlier this month that the government has failed to take criticism over HIPs seriously.

It said the packs had attracted "extensive criticism from many property professionals" and that it had "rarely seen such widespread opposition".

HIPs shift most of the burden of gathering information about a property prior to sale from the buyer to the seller.

The packs will include evidence of title, copies of planning, listed building or building regulation consents, guarantees for any work, an energy performance certificate, standard searches and legal documents, along with an optional home condition report.

But they will no longer have to include a full survey of the property -- which would have been the most expensive part -- following a host of objections.

The packs will also not contain local building and planning searches after area trials showed councils taking at least four weeks to release the information.