Get Kelly

Acolleague was pretty annoyed to hear of Ruth Kelly’s decision to postpone the Hips for at least two months. Admittedly her reasons were purely selfish as she was about to move house and the 1 June deadline had the vendor running around trying to finalise the deal.

Many people with more genuine grievances can be found on the “What you think” section of our website. The government’s climbdown has been particularly frustrating for those considering becoming home inspectors.

Peter Hughes, who once considered training to be an inspector, had this to say: “I’ve been to many conferences/seminars but along with many others have had no confidence in the way this proposal has been managed. The government has yet again made a mess of what was in principle a good idea!”

Many others agreed. Richard Mountain believes he had a lucky escape. “As an almost qualified home inspector, I cannot believe what a balls-up this process has been. The one good thing that has come out of it is that the U-turn forced my arm and I’m now training to be a real building surveyor.”

As a home inspector in waiting, Christopher Deane still has a touching faith in Hips. “The idea behind the energy report is to give people information about the state of the property they are looking to invest in. I believe in what the pack is trying to achieve.”

In forcing Kelly to delay the implementaiton of Hips, the RICS could be forgiven for feeling a little smug. People like Stuart Benham will keep them on their toes. “I would like to point out that the RICS has been training energy assessors and home inspectors over the past 18 months. Imagine how they all feel. Paying thousands of pounds to the RICS only for them to use it to mount that legal action. Talk about selling them down the river.”