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Property Lawyer Warns Homebuying Reform Risks Repeating HIPs Failure

A property lawyer has raised concerns that the government’s proposed homebuying reforms could repeat the mistakes of the scrapped Home Information Packs (HIPs) and may not achieve the promised faster transactions. David Smith, partner at Bishop & Sewell, questioned whether the reforms will deliver the faster transactions and lower fall-through rates that ministers have promised.

Smith highlighted that the government claims the reforms could reduce the average homebuying process by around four weeks, from 17 weeks to 13 weeks. However, he noted that this reduction falls short of the transformation seen in other countries often cited as best practice, such as Norway, where the conveyancing process reportedly takes four weeks.

A key part of the government’s plan is to introduce compulsory sales packs, but Smith pointed out that ministers have not specified what information these packs will contain. He also noted that the government’s own consultation acknowledged similarities with the failed HIPs policy, which was introduced in the mid-2000s and later scrapped.

Smith argued that unless the sales packs are structured so that buyers and their advisers can rely on them, they are unlikely to have a significant impact. He observed that most buyers rely on their conveyancer to assess property information, rather than reviewing detailed documentation themselves. Smith also warned that compiling the packs could increase costs for estate agents and sellers.

While sceptical about the effectiveness of sales packs, Smith said that encouraging earlier binding agreements between buyers and sellers could be more effective in reducing the number of transactions that collapse. He noted that some estate agents already use such agreements, which can help prevent buyers from making offers they cannot afford or attempting to renegotiate late in the process.

Smith welcomed plans for a new Code of Practice and mandatory training for estate agents, but questioned whether these measures would have a meaningful impact on transaction times.