New Crisis Over Home Information Pack Inspectors
14th June 2007
Ministers came under pressure today to exempt London from home information packs as fears grew that a lack of inspectors will cause chaos in the housing market.
Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly admitted there were only 70 accredited staff in the capital to inspect homes and draw up energy performance certificates - about two per borough.
It sparked concerns that assessors will be able to charge huge fees - possibly more than £1,000 - for the packs, which are being introduced on 1 August.
Stewart Lilly, president of the National Association of Estate Agents, raised the prospect of London being exempted temporarily from HIPs: "It seems the Government has got itself in a difficult and embarrassing situation.
"The number of qualified assessors is still extremely low. It might be that the Government will end up considering geographical phasing."
Ministers delayed the introduction of HIPs only days before the original 1 June launch date, and have limited them initially to homes of more than three bedrooms.
Conservative housing spokesman Michael Gove said: "It shows the sheer scale of Labour ministers' incompetence that there were only 70 inspectors in place in London for the time HIPs were supposed to begin."
About 160,000 property sales a year take place in London. The packs are expected to cost £300 to £600.
They will include searches, a sales document, evidence of title, and an energy performance certificate. Home condition reports are voluntary.
The Department for Communities and Local Government insisted here would be no shortage in the capital.
A spokesman said: "There are 70 accredited assessors and inspectors in London with a further 109 applications.
"On top of that, there are 214 accredited in the South-East - many will also cover London."
However, David Pank, Sales & Marketing Director with Manning Stainton with 18 offices across Leeds, Wakefield and Wetherby including Guiseley, Horsforth, Pudsey, and Morley, asks why London should be any different. The area covered by Manning Stainton, the leading estate agents in West Yorkshire, contain approximately 500,000 houses and of these we expect 25,000 of these to be put up for sale within a twelve month period. It will be interesting to see how many qualified Domestic Energy Assessors there are qualified in West Yorkshire on the 1st August. At present it would appear that there are nowhere near enough and we may never see the introduction of Energy Efficiency Reports on properties of less than four bedrooms.
