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Consumer Home
12 April 2006
A leading mortgage lender has warned that the introduction of Home information packs (Hips) could "jolt" the housing market.
The further costs represented by Hips may cause the market to overheat during the first half of 2007 and then cool off rapidly, warns GMAC-RFC.
Hips, designed to provide reliable information at the beginning of the homebuying process to prevent buyers or sellers being misled and sales falling through, are to become mandatory in June 2007.
Last week, the government announced that a dry-run would take place to test the packs prior to their introduction. The packs could cost sellers between £600 and £700 when introduced.
But GMAC-RFC believes that the government should rethink its plans, fearing that Hips could affect the housing market for years to come.
"We believe that this important new measure has been under-researched and, as a result, the potential impact of Hips has been underestimated," said Stephen Knight, chairman of GMAC-RFC.
"We applaud the government for trying to protect house buyers from wasting money on failed property transactions but we are concerned that no-one has fully assessed the potential effect this compulsory 'tax' could have on the UK property market."
If you are going to be entering the property market and are considering applying for a mortgage, you will be credit checked. Order your credit history now and make sure you are up-to-date.
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