a tory government has promised to abolish HIPs.

Interesting... Of course, I think the EPC would have to stay anyway, as that's a european thing. That would certainly change things...

What's everyone's problem? The EPC is an EU directive and cannot be abolished and the HIP, as it stands at present, includes the search which would have to be done at some stage in the process anyway.

I had yet another exammple yesterday where the searches were out of date. Wasted money. HIPs are pointless. With my clients they have already wasted a significant amount of money. Guess how they are funded - by the taxpayer. It is our money being frittered away with NO benefit.

The problem is that many people like me who haven't been able to sell their property because of the current market, get left with a bill for nearly £500 and nothing to show for it.