Tories will scrap HIPs

Among the proposals in the Conservative party’s housing policy paper, Strong Foundations, is a reaffirmation of its intention to scrap Home Information Packs (HIPs), if the Tories wins the next general election.

The confirmation has been welcomed by the National Association of Estate Agents. Chief executive Peter Bolton King said: “The NAEA has long called for HIPs to be abolished and I am personally pleased that Mr Shapps has taken on board our point of view – a point of view shared by the vast majority of property professionals and, we believe, the vast majority of consumers.

“In our opinion HIPs became untenable once the government’s own statistics revealed that 77 per cent of house-buyers paid no attention to them, and I would now call on Alistair Darling also to commit to scrapping them in this month’s Budget.”