Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:56 pm on 23 March 2009.
My Lords, I am sure the noble Lord will know that we are committed to an ambitious agenda of regulatory reform, cutting down unnecessary costs and improving the cost-effectiveness of new regulation. We have to do that while keeping essential protections for employees and employers. Abandoning the forthcoming changes on HIPs, which are intended to consolidate the regulations and provide industry with certainty and stability, would not help that process. I am delighted to say that, despite the current difficulties facing the housing market, a recent survey of 16,000 transactions by a leading estate agent, Connells, showed that, where a HIP was available, exchanges were completed on average six days quicker.