Bedroom Talk
Home Information Packs - media blow-up?
One evening newspaper today carried the placard : H.I.P.s 'axed'. An internet news service talked of a govermment 'U-Turn'. All that has happened is that introduction of the packs has been put off till August and the packs will at first apply only to 4-bedroom properties. How this amounts to a U-Turn, let alone axing, only the media can explain. I always thought the media had some tenuous commitment to 'telling it like it is'. But why tell the truth when you can over-dramatise a rather trivial little deferral ? That's the mind-set here.
Public Comments
- I suppose that the media expect it to be postponed again and again and again... they suspect that the delay until August is a face saver, and that in fact it is a u-turn. As I'm intending on selling my house shortly, I hope this is the case!
- Hi Geoffrey, Well you are correct. It is dead easy to criticise, hard to praise when it comes to media articles, as it is in day-to-day life. Having a "pop" at someone or an issue sells the rags. As for the specific subject of these daft HIP's, I shall have my own whinge If I sell an item, it is bought "as seen and approved" A car, a house, or an apple. Buyer beware and all that. If the punter hasn't got the sense to check the goods before parting with cash, then tough luck. I do not like the idea of being forced to provide a plethora of information when selling something. OK, there is the MOT certificate, or here are the deeds, but I'm jiggered if I shall pay for some bloke wandering around with a thermometer or whatever to write a report. It is beyond common sense. I am not suprised that our media have latched onto the silliness of it all. Our local "comminity" newspaper can take an irrelevant issue to great heights by headlining the closure of a public loo. It is amusing to me, but I have used this odd journalistic.trait to my advantage, by writing to the editor to ask why in an ever-increasing population of circa 7000 folks in this town, we have no local Bobby. This, alarmingly, was translated onto the front page under the heading "Local Policing Crisis". Oh dear. What have I done ? Give them an inch, and they make it a mile. All the best, I shall form my own opinions, thank you members of the press. Bob.
- Yes, it's a shame that what is essentially a sound idea has become a political football, although the blame for this must sit with the government who botched implementation. The current system is a massive waste of money for buyers and a great money spinner for solicitors and Estate Agents. Putting the onus on sellers (the very people who cause house price inflation) to provide evidence on the condition of the house is sensible.
