Cheap energy efficiency Hips are scrapped - 28/05/2010
The government's controversial home information packs (Hips), which were designed to improve cheap energy efficiency, have been scrapped.
The new coalition government ended the scheme, which resulted in around 2.7 million homeowners being forced to pay for the packs.
Estate agents welcomed the move to end the "pointless" Hips, which are thought to have wasted around £1 billion.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said the new government wanted to waste no time in doing away with unnecessary red tape that was "strangling the market".
Since December 2007, every homeowner in England and Wales that wanted to sell a home has had to pay around £500 for a Hip, which contains a number of information for a property such as its green rating and local authority searches.
The Energy Performance Certificate is the only part of the Hip that will remain. The certificate, which costs about £50, is required by European law and rates the energy efficiency of a property.
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