Beckett gives failing HIPs a makeover with new questions

HOUSING minister Margaret Beckett today unveiled a major shake-up of home information packs after admitting they were not working.

She axed plans to force homeowners to include local searches in HIPs before they put their property on the market. But the new "basic HIP" will include a questionnaire covering flood risk, car parking, service charges, gas and electricity safety and any structural damage.

The packs, though, will not contain a home condition report, as originally proposed, or local searches for up to 28 days - raising fresh questions over whether the policy is helping or hindering the market. The questionnaire will also include leaseholds, replacing previous HIP requirements.

In what will be seen as a damning indictment of the HIPs scheme that she inherited, Mrs Beckett stressed the changes were being introduced to make HIPs work "as well as possible",

She said: "Home information packs are potentially a vital aid to consumers, and I am firmly committed to ensuring they work as well as possible. It is essential that all buyers are able to see the HIP as early as possible."

Home sellers currently only need to have commissioned a HIP before they go to the market but from next month they would have needed to have one already. This is now being extended to April.