Housing and Regeneration Bill

My Lords, my noble friends have removed two of the most important planks of my argument much more eloquently and powerfully than I could have done. I am particularly grateful to my noble friend Lady Ford for her latest piece of intelligence; we must hold firmly to the principles of what we know is right and we must build differently for the future, not be destabilised by what I am sure is a temporary difficulty in the housing market—although it seems to be severe for many people. We had a similar debate 10 days ago, as the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, pointed out. Not a great deal has changed in my argument. It was certainly the market that failed to deliver; in fact, it delivered a chaotic and protracted system of buying and selling—the longest time in Europe that it takes to buy or sell a house. This happened against a background whereby customers simply did not get the information they needed early enough to inform their decisions about a property. The introduction of HIPs has been a first step in addressing these problems. We always said that it would be first step. We also said that we hoped that it would galvanise the market into changing itself. Indeed, it has, because the process of introducing HIPs has been much smoother than we had expected. They take on average seven days to prepare; drainage and water searches are taking three days; competition from HIPs is reducing the average cost of property searches; 85 local authorities have already reduced their charges by £30, and some by as much as £120; and energy performance certificates are being prepared within an average of two to four days. This has not been an onerous or bureaucratic exercise and important information is there for the first time. I understand and listened with respect to what the noble Lord said about the state of the market. I am sure that he will have read the independent and thorough report that I sent him by Europe Economics on the relationships that HIPs have with the market when compared with the many other influences on what makes people buy and sell homes. The report found no evidence of an impact of HIPs on transactions and prices, and noted that any effect on listings would be short-lived and the impact on the market marginal compared to wider factors. I hope that the noble Lord accepts that, because we want to move on with industry and consumer groups to enhance and improve HIPs and ensure that consumers can get the information that they want at the right time in a format that they find useful. My other argument with the noble Lord is that at this time of turbulence in the housing market, more change is the last thing that we want, particularly regarding home improvement packs. The industry and consumers want certainty and confidence. That is a very strong argument for rejecting the amendment. More than 750,000 HIPs have now been produced, and energy performance certificates have put into the hands of consumers information which previously they never had. This is important information at a time of rising fuel costs. I know the noble Lord understands that. With respect, I cannot accept the amendment and I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw it.