NAEA denounces Hips ''spin''
Thu 25th Oct, 12:29:41 BST
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has said that an e-mail allegedly sent by the department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) saying the introduction of home information packs (Hips) has gone smoothly is nothing more than "blatant spin".
Distributing what it claims is a copy of a message sent by the government''s HIPs Programme Team, the organisation said that studies conducted since the controversial scheme was first rolled out showed that there the packs had negatively affected the market.
NAEA president, Stewart Lilly, said: "This latest communication from the government is blatant spin. It lacks any substance whatsoever if there are in fact statistics to back up the claims then we would urge the CLG to make them public to save further embarrassment."
He added that CLG is "desperate to save face by ploughing on with a useless initiative" and called for Hips to be scrapped, with energy performance certificates allowed to "stand alone in their own right".
Last week, the parliamentary under secretary of state, Iain Wright, said that Hip providers had "reported smooth implementation and good feedback from agents and consumers" and that agents had said they are "a step in the right direction".
Distributing what it claims is a copy of a message sent by the government''s HIPs Programme Team, the organisation said that studies conducted since the controversial scheme was first rolled out showed that there the packs had negatively affected the market.
NAEA president, Stewart Lilly, said: "This latest communication from the government is blatant spin. It lacks any substance whatsoever if there are in fact statistics to back up the claims then we would urge the CLG to make them public to save further embarrassment."
He added that CLG is "desperate to save face by ploughing on with a useless initiative" and called for Hips to be scrapped, with energy performance certificates allowed to "stand alone in their own right".
Last week, the parliamentary under secretary of state, Iain Wright, said that Hip providers had "reported smooth implementation and good feedback from agents and consumers" and that agents had said they are "a step in the right direction".
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