BRITISH PROFESSIONS TODAY: THE STATE OF ... - Property Week

The Law Society, too, felt that the government’s plans to introduce
HIPs were potentially very costly to the consumer and damaging to
the property market (“Government not ready…” 2007). The Law
Society, along with other major stakeholders in the home buying
and selling process, wrote to Yvette Cooper MP, Minister for
Housing and Planning, urging the government to meet with them
and to delay plans (Ibid.).
In an attempt to avoid a lengthy court case and delays, the
DCLG reached an agreement with RICS, revised regulations, and
implemented certain changes, including the delays and continuous
assessment of HIP implementation (“Energy Performance…”
2007). The much-anticipated HIPs are now compulsory, following
a series of delays and a scaled launching of the packs according
to property type. Jeremy Leaf, RICS spokesman, described the
situation: “Although they are not the only factor, HIPs are
continuing to have a detrimental impact on the housing market,
in spite of assurances from the housing minister that this would
not happen” (The Telegraph 6 October 2007). Confirming this,
the January 2008 RICS house-price survey placed some of the
blame of the diminishing housing market on their introduction.
Despite what may look like a policy failure, RICS views the HIPs
experience positively because the process of judicial review raised
the influence of the body amongst peer professions and other
government bodies (Craig 2007). The lessons of this example,
in which multiple professional bodies met with stone walls when
attempting to advise government on a technical policy issue,
suggest that professional expertise may be undervalued in the
political sphere – to the detriment of consumers and the public.
Should the professions have a larger, collaborative role to play
in helping consumers and citizens navigate free markets?
British Professions Today: The State of the Sector © Spada Limited 2009 31