Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP expressed his confusion at the time it took the CML to respond to the Governments latest consultation document, saying: Their somewhat mischievous reaction will create further uncertainty in the minds of the public. However, he goes on to add that homeowners should not be unduly concerned, pointing out that, earlier this month, the Housing Minister offered unequivocal assurance that HIPs will happen on 1 June 2007.
The CML has called for further research to be carried out and has cited governmental laziness and the credibility of the HIPs timetable as major reasons for their negative reaction.
Ockenden adds: While there is room for improvement in speeding up local authority searches, an issue Government is addressing, we see no reason why there should be any delay in their implementation.
In contrast, head of policy at CML, Jackie Bennett commented: “No-one would dispute that the house-buying process is slow in the UK and could usefully be speeded up to benefit consumers, but there is no clear evidence that HIPs will solve the problems.
“This close to the implementation date, there are still far too many unknowns about the potential market impacts. We call on the government to postpone the introduction of HIPs until they have been properly trialled and reviewed.”
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