Forthcoming Home Information Packs launch prompts training surge in property sector

The property sector has reported a dramatic uptake of training in preparation for the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) on 1 June.

The controversial packs will require anyone selling a property to assemble a pack containing detailed information at a cost of several hundred pounds.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, told Personnel Today: “We have reservations about HIPs. However, we have taken a pragmatic view by offering training to our 10,000 members who we want to be fully prepared.

“In the past five months we have been providing HIP-handling guideline days for thousands of members, with training accelerating to almost a daily occurrence. This will continue until demand dies down,” he said.

Online property site Rightmove has also seen 3,500 estate agents access its free HIP online training programme, launched at the start of May.

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Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, told Personnel Today: “We feel this free training fulfils a real and urgent need for independent estate agents.

“Corporates have their own training departments, and while HIP providers are supplying training, it is likely to focus heavily on the ordering process and features of their own products.”