Friday, May 18, 2007

June 1 - UK HIPS going live including Energy Performance Certificates

May 17. London House Commons Debate on HIPs, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper strongly defended HIPs and the importance of including Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), saying they are vital in helping to tackle climate change while the packs give house-buyers more information upfront about their new home and cut costs for first-time buyers.

Yvette Cooper said:

“The only new document that is being added to the process is the Energy Performance Certificate. The certificates will give people’s homes an energy rating for the first time. They will give people not only the rating on their home but information on what they can do about it — what their fuel bills are likely to be and how they can cut them.

“The remaining elements of HIPs are the legal and search documents that one already needs when buying and selling a home, but they will be gathered at the beginning rather than the end of the process, to speed things up and improve competition. For many of us, buying and selling a home is a baffling process. There can be huge delays between offer and exchange. In complex chains, that can mean that sales fall through. Most people will struggle to keep track of what services they are getting and paying for. HIPs will make the process much clearer and faster”.


There's a message here for Victoria - surely we need to be debating the introduction of such a measure, both energy and water savings audits.

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