An e-petition launched by the National Association of Estate Agents against home information packs (Hips) has received an overwhelming response, having attracted over 2,500 signatures just twenty four hours after being announced.

With estate agents demonstrating strong feeling against the current HIP proposals, which are due to come into effect on 1st June this year, the NAEA is now asking consumers to give their backing to the petition.

Registered on the 10 Downing Street website, the e-petition urges the government to accept the NAEA’s concerns about the home information pack legislation and the likely effect on the housing market and the economy. The Association calls for the relevant section of the Housing Act to be repealed and asks the government to discuss more relevant ways of improving the house buying and selling process.

With over 2,500 respondents the NAEA petition is already ranked 26th out of 1,910 on the 10 Downing Street website in terms of the number of signatures collected and is climbing rapidly.

The NAEA has some 10,000 members, but is also asking the public to help get the Hips legislation repealed.

NAEA chief executive Peter Bolton King said: “Ultimately we are all working towards the same goal: the improvement of the home buying and selling process.”

“We ask the public to help us get the Home Information Pack’s repealed so that we can find a real solution to improving property buying and selling in the UK.”

The NAEA’s concerns over the Hip plans are as follows:

• The lack of ability to market a property without a Hip will reduce the supply of houses available and lead to additional house price inflation
• There is already evidence that the Land Registry’s e-conveyancing proposals will speed up the home buying and selling process, making Hips redundant in this area
• Energy performance certificates are the only part that will add value and can easily be dealt with outside of Hips
• The voluntary nature of the home condition report will create an uneven playing field in the market
• Without a legal summary explaining the legal elements of the pack the consumer will in fact be disadvantaged rather than advantaged