Grant Shapps, the “campaigner” has carried out yet another PR stunt. This time he wrapped a house in red tape in an attempt to highlight the bureaucracy of the home information packs.
The owners of the home, David and Helen Wright, where apparently released from their “red tape hell” by the hero Shapps. Apparently they went on to sell their house due to the publicity received; I bet they had no complaints about the speedy completion process.
Hips 1 – Shapps 0.
Some of you may remember previous Shapps Stunts. He slept homeless on the streets in London on Christmas Eve in London to highlight the problems of the homeless, well Mr Shapps it is a shame that did not solve the problem of homelessness and scrapping the HIP’s will not solve the Recession.
With buy now pay nothing until completion Hips that are exchange ready from PALI the house selling and purchasing process has never been so quick and cheap. Hips are floored, they need fixing, not scrapping.
Comment by Ben Oliver — December 18, 2009 @ 10:28 am
Yet another display that the Conservatives are trying to win the election on cheap publicity stunts. Heaven forbid they would actually lay down some real policies in order for the public to make an informed decision on.
A property in the summer that required a HIP, was unfortunately on the Land Registry under the wrong records. The process of tracking this property down, identifying the street name error, and liasing with residents to have the street name registered as the correct name took approximately 3 months.
I know the vendor preferred this wait at the start of the house selling process, rather than the end where it would traditionally have been found towards the end, holding up the sale of the property, and possibly a whole chain meaning the possible collapse of some purchases.
Unfortunately, stories like this are not likely to be able to have a ‘PR photo fit’ available to be exploited cheaply.
Comment by Steve — December 18, 2009 @ 10:46 am
So true ben, by removing the ability for the general public to see what they are buying so they can make an informed decision is the basis of stepping backwards by about 80 years. What’s next?
Removing food label from products so you don’t know what is in until after you have bought it?
Comment by Tim — December 18, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
Too true ! Exactly the same with unregistered properties and I wish I had been able to see a copy of my lease when I bought a leasehold years ago. Let alone all the other benefits!
Comment by Adrew Hillel — December 27, 2009 @ 12:47 am
Great stunt but what if the HIP is to RIP ? Do we go back to what we had before ?
Comment by palihips.co.uk — January 20, 2010 @ 5:41 pm
I was told by one of my Estate Agents yesterday, that they sold and completed on a property in 17 days from start to finish. this could not have been done without HIPS.