Hips 'will affect' property supply

As the government extends its controversial Home Information Pack (Hip) scheme to cover all three-bedroom houses, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has warned that Hips will affect the supply of three bedroom homes to the market.

According to a survey, the NAEA found that 63 per cent of estate agents witnessed a decline of 37 per cent in the number of four bedroom plus properties on the market, following the phase one of Hip implementation on August 1st.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, explained that the decline was attributed to homeowners choosing to stay out of the market so that they could avoid Hips.

"Our concerns have always been that the introduction of Hips would lead to a lack of supply following implementation," he said.

"This does indeed seem to be the case with four bedroom homes and is now likely to be replicated in the three bedroom homes market. The next few months will prove crucial in seeing whether Hips are going to cause the sort of problems we feared."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also found that sellers of four-bedroom properties turned their backs on the housing market on the housing market in August.

The packs, including energy performance certificates, were designed to speed up the home buying process and ensure buyers have all the relevant information before purchasing a property. However, there has been strong opposition to Hips from estate agents who believe they complicate things.

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