Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Dixon-Smith (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 23 March 2009.

Housing: Home Information Packs

Question: My Lords, for a decade the Government flooded society with regulations on the assumption that the good times would continue, and HIPs are of course a classic. Seventy-four per cent of the people who buy houses—these are the Government’s figures—take no notice of home information packs in their purchase deal and it is an inhibiting factor from the point of view of the vendor. However, the real question that I wish to ask is as follows. There are a number of factors in secondary legislation brought in by this Government which cumulatively are making it more difficult for the general economy to recover. Will the Minister ask her colleagues in government to commit themselves to a general review of secondary legislation so that any inhibiting factors which are discovered—I am sure that there are plenty of others—might be removed?

Answer: My Lords, I am sure the noble Lord will know that we are committed to an ambitious agenda of regulatory reform, cutting down unnecessary costs and improving the cost-effectiveness of new regulation. We have to do that while keeping essential protections for employees and employers. Abandoning the forthcoming changes on HIPs, which are intended to consolidate the regulations and provide industry with certainty and stability, would not help that process. I am delighted to say that, despite the current difficulties facing the housing market, a recent survey of 16,000 transactions by a leading estate agent, Connells, showed that, where a HIP was available, exchanges were completed on average six days quicker.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 709 c446
Session: 2008-09
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Housing Home information packs Sales Regulation Housing market Prices
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk