12 Nov 07 - HIPs Plans 'Will Push Prices Up'
Extending Home Information Packs to smaller properties
will make life even harder for first-time buyers by pushing
prices up, a new report claims.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is predicting
a sharp drop in the number of one and two-bed homes on the
market if the Government includes them in the HIPs legislation.
And it claims that the move will squeeze the sector, and
that in turn will propel prices upwards.
RCS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "With prospective buyers
and sellers currently taking a 'wait and see' approach to
moving, activity in the housing market is grinding to a
halt. "The housing minister needs to understand that rolling
HIPs out to one and two-bed properties could find first-time
buyers caught between a rock and a hard place as accessibility
to the market would go off the scale. "Lack of smaller properties
for purchase will force first-time buyers to remain in the
lettings market where rents are already climbing at the
fastest pace in over eight years."
Source: Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors
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