Reassuring News To Home Inspector Students

Despite the Minister's statement issued last week, announcing that Home Condition Reports (HCRs) would not form a mandatory part of the Home Information Pack (HIP) when it comes into force on 1st June next year, HCRs are far from dead.

News emerging from a series of discussions between home inspectors.co.uk, Lending Solutions and the DCLG give further clear reassurance that the HCR will form part of the pack, initially through voluntary take up. The mandatory roll-out of HCRs is still on the table if the voluntary take-up is not successful.

Although further details are likely to follow, there are early indications that the mandatory Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) element of the HIP will be carried out by suitably qualified and Licensed Home Inspectors. This news will provide much needed reassurance to those who have started their training to become a home inspector, as well as those who are considering coming into this new career.

Commenting on the news, Stephen Callaghan, CEO of home inspectors.co.uk said: 'Many of our students were considerably rocked by the announcement made last week by Yvette Cooper. The reason for Minister's decision to delay the HCR was predominately a response to suggestions from a number of industry bodies that they would not be ready - that lenders were not prepared and that there would not be enough Home Inspectors to carry out the HCRs by June next year.

Anyone carefully reading the Minister's statement will be aware that Home Information Packs will happen on 1st June 2007 and HCRs still remain an element of the pack. Our recent discussions with DCLG have simply added further weight to this.

The nature and timing of the Minister's announcement last week was very unfortunate and has led to much speculation about the merits of embarking on the Home Inspector Diploma course. Indeed, this has been even more concerning for those in the training pipeline. David Lane's statement that the mandatory element of the pack, the Energy Performance Certificate will be carried out by qualified Home Inspectors is excellent news for our students and will give more certainty to the process from now on. Over the coming days and weeks, we are being reassured by the Government that they will issue further news to allay any concerns our members may have. In fact, they have just set-up a national helpline as one of the first steps in this process.'

The Government's Home Inspector Helpline telephone number is 0800 0567 160.