Andrew Turner, the Island’s MP, has called for a boost to the Island’s housing market by removing excessive red tape and bureaucracy. In the face of increasing concern about the economic downturn Mr Turner believes that the requirement for Home Information Packs (HIPs) should be suspended. A year after their introduction there is mounting evidence that they have added to the reduction in the number of housing transactions as they have increased the costs of selling homes and people have been deterred from putting their houses on the market speculatively. When the legislation was introduced there was a clause inserted giving the Government the power to suspend any or all of the HIPs rules – Mr Turner believes it is now time to do so. The Government claims that HIPS are necessary to meet an EU directive on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) yet in Northern Ireland these are issued for home sales without HIPs. Whitehall’s own Better Regulation Commission has criticised the UK Government for “gold plating” the EU Directive on EPCs, and imposing “additional administrative burdens [of HIPs] without adequate justification”.

Mr Turner said:
“All the dithering and uncertainty about whether stamp duty will be suspended has hit the housing market hard and is adding to the economic downturn. People are waiting for something to happen before they complete on house purchases and HIPs ‘go stale’ after six months, and the information in them needs to be updated. In the current ‘credit crunch’ buyers are more concerned about obtaining finance for their purchase than obscure red tape. An incoming Conservative government would scrap the HIP legislation completely and lift the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers to £250,000. That would give an immediate kick-start to the housing market and help local first-time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder. However, we need action now and the Prime Minister has the power to give us a ‘HIP holiday’ even while Parliament is not sitting, I hope he will also put out a firm statement about their intentions on stamp duty without delay as the situation is getting worse by the day”.

END Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808