First time sellers are put off by cost of HIPs, contributing the fall in asking prices this month

Home Information Packs are putting off first time sellers and contributing to the house price slump, according to a survey by Rightmove.

The survey shows that asking prices were 3.2% lower this month than in November, the biggest fall since Rightmove began collecting the data in 2002.

The monthly fall is caused by higher borrowing costs and recent financial uncertainty, but the survey shows that 1.1% of the slump is due to first time sellers avoiding HIPs legislation.

Last week the government announced that HIPs applied to all properties being sold in England and Wales. Since September only properties with three or more bedrooms had to have a HIP in order to be sold.

On average a HIP costs £300-350.

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