On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 23:32:30 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:57:50 +0100, Andrew Gabriel wrote
(in article ):

The government has abandoned the Home Condition Reports, which
were due to be introduced next year for all house sales in
England and Wales.

Brilliant news.



There seem to be several reasons for this:
Cost of the HIPs (Home Information Packs) was looking like it
was going through the roof;
Nowhere near enough HI's (Home Inspectors) have been trained (I
know from talking with one of the training bodies that almost all
those who came forward for training were completely unsuitable);

It would be interesting to know why they were considered to be unsuitable -
i.e. whether they really *were* unsuitable, or weren't able to do the sharp
intake of breath, the tapping of the clipboard and recite "It's more than my
job's worth in 8 different languages"

Banks/Building Societies have told government they won't accept
the survey in the HIP;
There has been a significant public backlash against the scheme.

It should be noted that HIPs are not abandoned yet -- only the
survey element (Home Condition Report). However, strangely, the
SAP evaluation is still in, which is done by the Home Inspectors
during the Home Condition Report inspection. Quite how this is
supposed to work I can't imagine.

It won't. In a few months time, that will be quietly dropped as well.



There are also a large number of HI who have funded their own
training who will now not be required -- I wonder what happens
about that.

Hopefully, having lost their money without recompense, they will seek proper
gainful employment.



Yet another cock-up from start to finish -- exactly as predicted
by everyone who gave the issue even the slightest thought at the
outset.



I wonder if part P could be similarly targetted......

Must drop another letter to local MPs.

I think you'll be backing a loser.
Firstly the matter is done and that means a magnitudes more effort to
change things.

Secondly the real reason for Part P is the same as Part F,G,J
L etc. ISTM it's to introduce a culture of qualification,
registration and self-certification which makes being casually
self-employed as a general workman very awkward.

Either you have to specialise or you have to be employed by a company
which is registered. It's just too damn expensive to be registered for
more than couple of trades, and very hard if you are not full time.

IIRC around 75% of all self-employed people are in construction and
related trades. ISTM that the treasury or other departments want to
control this sector. So far I expect they have simply driven it
underground.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards