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HIPs may be history but that does not mean any slippage on standards in searches. That is the clear message from the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) which has published a revised Search Code for the post HIP environment and a consultation on future regulation of the sector.

The Search Code, which is owned by CoPSO,  is a voluntary self-regulatory framework which is designed to ensure the highest level of consumer protection and quality of information in search reports.

As the scrapping of Home Information Packs was on both the Conservative and Liberal Democrats general election manifesto it came as no surprise to many within the property sector that this was one of the first announcements made by a Minister of the newly formed coalition Government.

The Improvement and Development Agency (IDEA) strongly objects to the totally uncaring and publicity stunt manner in which this announcement was made. Both Eric Pickles and Kirsty Allsopp were smiling for the cameras and celebrating the demise of an entire industry that will now leave thousands of decent hard working British citizens, from all parts of England and Wales, facing severe financial hardship and the prospect of joining the dole queue. This is an immediate contradiction of the promises given by both Nick Clegg and David Cameron in the garden of 10 Downing Street, when they talked of a new politics and a fairer Britain for all!

The British Property Federation (BPF) has welcomed the scrapping of home information packs (HIPs) but has called on the new government to keep other promises and take bold action to help housing supply.

Speaking on BBC1’s Breakfast, spokesman Andrew Teacher praised the new government’s decision to act quickly and avoid wasting time with needless consultation.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has welcomed the news that the new Government is committed to abolishing Home Information Packs (HIPs).

However Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive, warned that failure to implement the decision quickly would confuse consumers and the housing market.

The Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) has today cancelled the registration of HIP-Save Ltd and HIPserve (UK) Ltd as a subscriber to the HIP Code of Practice for failure to comply with PCCB’s Registration Rules.

The registration of the Baldock based HIP provider was recently suspended but as the firm has again failed to satisfactorily comply with all the required actions within specified deadlines, the PCCB has been unable to consider lifting the suspension and re-instating the firm on the register.

An audience of property professionals has overwhelmingly voted to “adapt not scrap” the Home Information Pack.

In a vote of around 100 industry leaders, only four people in the audience voted to scrap HIPs despite the pledge by both the Conservative and Liberal Democrats to do so.

The HIP Code has been amended to protect consumers, estate agents, conveyancers and mortgage lenders using an Exchange Ready Pack (ERP), an enhanced HIP that provides additional legal documents upfront.

All HIP Code subscribers supplying Exchange Ready Packs will now be required to meet strict minimum standards, putting the document on a par with the HIP in terms of quality, as well as stringent levels of regulation and redress.

The number of solicitors accepting the property searches included in the HIP has increased to over 75%, representing huge savings in time and money for home buyers, according to recent research by OneSearch Direct.

Three out of four home buyers now no longer have to wait for their solicitors to obtain additional property searches, with the benefit of making home moving faster and less stressful. This represents a growing acceptance by lawyers of the value of the documents contained in the HIP, an improvement on similar research conducted in Spring 2009, which found that two out of every three homebuyers benefitted from the searches within the HIP.

The frequent refrain from the Conservatives has been that Home Information Packs have deterred sellers from putting their homes onto the market. New analysis of stock levels can now disprove this claim according to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP).

When HIPs were fully implemented in December 2007 the housing market was about to enter very rocky water as a result of the global financial crisis and soon sales and the number of houses going onto the market dried up.

The Budget announcement that the Government is scrapping stamp duty for first time buyers for homes costing less than £250,000 is good news, as are HIPs, which remain free for buyers.

As the election nears and the prospect of a hung parliament becomes a distinct possibility, AHIPP reiterates its position that it is lobbying the incoming government to adapt not scrap the HIP and make it more consumer friendly.