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Housing and Regeneration Bill

I did not think I would get away without having a debate on HIPs in the course of a Housing Bill. I am not surprised, but if the Committee will forgive me, I will not rehearse the full story of the introduction and management of HIPs over the past year, because it would take a long time. What I will say is very simple. There can be no doubt that the current home-buying and selling process needed to change. I think we would all agree on that. It is protracted, confusing, opaque and stressful, and the biggest losers have been first-time buyers, who are already at a disadvantage. Over the past year we have seen HIPs bed down. Around 700,000 HIPs have been produced along with energy performance certificates. We have seen the market adapt. Consumers are beginning to see the benefits. There has been a reduction in the cost of local property searches by an average of £30. We said that HIPs would stimulate and help the market, and they have. I hear what the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, says about the way they are affecting the market. We have commissioned substantial research on this, and we have no such evidence. Given what else is happening in the housing market in terms of ability to borrow and buy, I would be very surprised if HIPs made any difference, but I will send the noble Earl the current research we have. To maintain confidence among all those involved and to make the benefits of HIPs evident and useful, we should ensure that we build on what is working. That is what we intend to do, and we are doing it with the industry. We have a much closer and better relationship with stakeholders, and we are working with consumers. We are doing our best to make a real benefit of this. We recognise from the area trials and our early operations that more needs to be done to facilitate and support the take-up, and we are working with the industry to ensure that consumers can benefit fully from HIPs. We are reflecting on the recommendations in the Carsberg report, but in the mean time we will continue to work with the industry to improve information for the consumer in this process. Given where we are with the energy companies, we are also making the most of EPCs. The committee will know that we are phasing in EPCs across all sectors of buildings. All homes marketed for sale in England and Wales since December 2007 have required an EPC to be available to prospective buyers. HIPs are an important issue that we have addressed many times in this House. Frankly, however, I cannot add a great deal to what I have just said. I hope the Committee will understand that I listen to noble Lords, and I appreciate the opportunity once again to update the Committee on where we are.