The Government's decision to remove the Home Condition Report as a mandatory element of the Home Information Pack comes as a bitter blow to those who had committed to the new role.

There are further concerns about the decision to include the Energy Performance Certificate as a stand alone document within the HIP. The move to create a new role of Energy Inspector is a waste of money and resources as there has already been considerable investment by both government and industry to train and accredit the five thousand Home Inspectors who are already registered to carry out HCRs. At the present time the EPC for residential properties can only be produced by a Home Inspector. Asset Skills are tasked by the government with creating new National Occupation Standards to train Energy Inspectors. This is totally unnecessary.

The consumer organisation 'Which' has removed its support for the HIP as it considered the removal of the HCR rendered it of little value to consumers. 'Which' fully supported the introduction of the HCR as it promised to revolutionise the house buying market 30 per cent of property sales fall through every year costing an estimated £350 million annually. The report also provided a tangible benefit to first time buyers as they would not be required to pay for the report.

The government's u-turn announced by Yvette Cooper was in response to concerns that there were insufficient qualified HI's to service the property market as the mandatory date approached. This could have been resolved by extending the voluntary dry run for a twelve month period. This could have provided sufficient time for the five thousand Home Inspectors to complete their training/assessment, and would have given the rest of industry a sufficient 'bedding in period'.

But as they say 'a day is a long time in politics,' so what does the future hold for those who hold the Diploma? Those who have gained the Diploma in Home Inspection will be able to provide the Energy Performance Certificate, but at what will be an excessive cost to the consumer.

A number of HIP providers have 'nailed their colours to the mast' to promote the Home Condition Report on a non-mandatory basis. In doing so they have offered to work with government to provide the data that is said to be crucial before the government is prepared to make the full system mandatory. We wait to see if the consumer is prepared to take this option at an additional cost to themselves, and then whether they are prepared to make the information available to potential purchasers should the report be anything other than glowing.

Nevertheless, an opportunity to meet the industry half way would be much welcomed by those who answered the government's original call to make the Home Condition Report a success.

Many individuals and organisations have made a commitment to this success, especially future Home Inspectors and Assessment Centres in particular. Consumer bodies and professional institutions have also given their support, All deserve some confidence in government that the Home Condition Report will be made mandatory and need to be given a date for implementation.

This would provide a disenchanted industry with much needed encouragement and impetus to continue its engagement with the HIP. More importantly it would provide the property buying public with the radically improved system that was originally promised and is long overdue.

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The opinions expressed by contributors to FAS Focus are those of their respective authors, and the CIOB is not responsible for these opinions or statements.

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