HIPS: A nice little earner (not for us though)

The Home Improvement Pack (HIP) disaster is slowly coming to the boil. The Law Society believes that Home inspectors could make up to £250 million a year on producing packs that never get used! If a property has been on the market for 6 months it will require a new HIP, leading to nearly half a million packs being pulped every year. With each one costing at least £500, the total bill would hit £250 million. Whilst 6 months will not be a legal requirement, in reality renewals will be required if the property is to sell. Nearly two million homes are put on the market every year, with a quarter going unsold after a year, it is estimated.

Couple that with the desperate lack of qualified inspectors available, many people will be paying for this poorly thought out policy by the government. This is a classic example of the government trying to pick a winner, but in the end picking a complete loser - the scheme was originally designed to speed up the sale of a property. But if you leave this government in charge of anything, it seems, they will meddle and interfere and cock it up one way or another. With just over a month to go I will be keeping on this story and unless the government backs down and gives in to calls for a delay, it is all going to go wrong. As always, it will be us who pays.