Cicero Policy Briefer

Issue 13, June 2007

Failure to Launch: lift-off for HIPs sees another setback

By John Rowland

On 22 May, the day before a symbolic debate on Home Information Packs (HIPs) in the Lords in which the Government looked to be defeated, and a few days after a judge had issued an interim order effectively blocking their implementation on 1 June, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly MP stood before the House of Commons to make an emergency statement.

Ms Kelly announced that the Government “would be withdrawing the Home Information Pack regulations to clear the way for successful implementation of revised arrangements”. Not only would the Government be pushing the June 2007 implementation deadline back to August, but even then the requirement would only apply to houses with four or more bedrooms. The packs would then be phased in for other houses over an as yet unspecified time frame.

This was a gift for Michael Gove, Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning, who had that opportunity that every Opposition spokesman relishes—that of standing in the Gothic majesty of the Commons Chamber and saying to the Government: “I told you so.”

Indeed for those of us who have been following the progress of the embattled packs there was something of a sense of déjà vu about these proceedings; almost this time last year the Government shelved the Home Condition Report (HCR) component of HIPs following huge opposition from the industry. Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper MP, announced in a written statement then that: “As part of the development of the dry run we have engaged in detailed consultation with a wide range of stakeholders…as a result, we have concluded that there would be significant risks…from a mandatory ‘big bang’ introduction of full Home Condition Reports on 1 June 2007.”

Presumably the big bang would now be more of a modest combustion. This, it was hoped, would be enough to placate the sizeable lobby of HIP sceptics, while still allowing the policy to see another day. A new green tinted emphasis was placed on HIPs, stressing the home Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) component. Ministers were still counting down for ignition on 1 June.

But anyone who thought that the removal of the HCR and the new focus on the EPC would calm the furore over HIPs would be proved wrong. The National Association of Estate Agents, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Law Society and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors wrote to Ms Kelly in March expressing concerns about the packs. Then, just a month later, a House of Lords committee charged with examining Government regulations published a distinctly unfavourable report on HIPs. Lord Filkin, committee chairman and Labour peer, said his committee had scrutinised hundreds of statutory instruments—but he could not think of one where there were "so many stakeholders so passionately disgruntled and critical". Meanwhile, Lord Tunnicliffe described the analysis contained in the Government’s impact assessment as the most data-free he had encountered.

The final blow was to come from an audacious legal challenge to the Government launched by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who argued that there had been a failure to adequately consult on the measures to introduce EPCs. This effectively forced Ministers to replace the safety catch and delay lift-off until the case could be reviewed.

But what now for this bedraggled policy? The Government says it has come to an agreement with RICS. But ultimately the outcome probably depends on Gordon Brown’s cabinet reshuffle when he becomes Prime Minister later in June. Ruth Kelly has insisted that the Government will implement HIPs over time—and it has to implement EPCs to comply with EU rules in any case. But if Yvette Cooper is shuffled or promoted to another brief, will the new incumbent be so eager to implement them in the current form? Or will he or she look to draw a line under the issue by scrapping HIPs altogether and simply requiring EPCs to be carried out separately? The starship HIPs and its occupants sit on the launch pad, waiting to see if the mission will be aborted or if they might yet reach the stars.

John Rowland can be contacted on +44 (0)20 7665 9530 or click here to email.

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