The former chairman of the Consumers Home Information Pack Supporters (CHIPS) group has hit back at yesterday’s reports from the NAEA, criticizing the report and claiming that many top estate agents are in fact embracing the new legislation.

Ed Chamberlain, an estate agent & chartered surveyor, slammed the report for not giving details of the sample size in its press release – something he feels is all too common in their recent reports.

Mr Chamberlain claims that the “imbalanced view” reflects the emergence of a hard-line membership in the organization, which has emerged since the resignation of Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy.

He said: “Top estate agency firms are embracing HIPs with great enthusiasm.  Both corporate and independent estate agents up and down the country are well advanced with their plans to implement HIPs.  We are now in the implementation phase with a lot of work to do.”

“However, agents are being strongly supported by the fledgling "pack providers" which range from those who specialise in providing software solutions to those who place emphasis on legal input to improve the HIP even further.”

Many agents and HIP providers have, or are already teaming up to carry out their own trials in order to refine their systems.  For example, the National Homes Network group of estate agencies is beginning a trial with MDA this autumn.  MDA are priciply a software provider and are currently involved in the provision of search information through its Transaction On Line operation.

Chamberlain continued: “The office of the Deputy prime Minister has involved all stakeholders from the very start and has recently made landmark decisions on the mechanics of HIP implementation.  Such close co-operation between the government and industry means that all involved, including the lenders, can and will proceed with implementing a system which they themselves have helped design.

“The NAEA could have a very influential role in informing the public and in the way HIPs are implemented. It is a great shame to see this opportunity being wasted.”