"After years of speculation the enabling legislation announced in the Queen's Speech brings a welcome degree of certainty over the issue of HIPs.
The industry's focus will now change from debating the rights and wrongs of
HIPs and will begin to give full attention to the issues of how the new law is to be implemented. The change, particularly for larger players in the market, will be from 'do I agree with HIPs?' to 'how can I make HIPs
provide better service for my customers?'
The Government has made it clear that it will look to "market forces" to
develop many of the finer points of the new HIPs process. Peter Bray's
view is that we will see a step increase in activity.
"It has been difficult even for those who are committed to becoming HIP
providers to make large investment until now. I am sure that we will see
far more energy directed towards resolving the emerging issues. For
example, one area of concern is finding the required number of home
inspectors. My view is that many chartered surveyors will become dedicated
home inspectors and there is a pool of allied professionals with good
technical background who will be interested in this work."
Another issue is whether buyers will trust the condition report contained
in the packs. Bray is upbeat. He said: "There will certainly be some who
will want to commission their own surveys so many will look to the
credibility of the firm carrying out the report and the standing of their
professional indemnity cover. SecureMove has already found, however, that
confidence is boosted by offering a robust hidden defects warranty over and
above normal indemnity insurance. This is a good example of market forces
helping overcome the apparent difficulties."
Other key issues surround charging for the report, which Bray is convinced
will quickly move to the back end of the process and be paid out of sales
proceeds. Professional indemnity cover for home inspectors may require
Government intervention in the early years, particularly for those entering
the industry from other professions. He concludes: "No-one is
under-estimating that there are some important issues to be addressed. Now
that the debate of whether it will happen at all seems to be over I think
we will see some rapid developments of practical solutions."
