The Conservative party has criticised the HIPs scheme, claiming that the proposed initiative will not prevent "gazumping" within the market…

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme, shadow housing minister Michael Gove said that many within the property market believe that Hips will create greater "complexity" and add cost to the buying and selling process.

"We want to ask the government to go back to the drawing board, to preserve what's important – the energy performance certificate – and to get rid of the unnecessary cost and complexity," he remarked.

Mr Gove's comments followed the publication of a report by the Lords committee on the merits of statutory instruments, which found that many within the housing market did not consider Hips to be "worthwhile".

Responding to the report, Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, said that the committee had failed to consult with "major" members of the industry.

This, he argued, made it unlikely that the report was a "truly balanced" reflection of opinion.

Tory ‘green’ agenda ‘contradictory’

Stephen Callaghan, Director of energy-assessors.com, comments on the Conservative party’s policy contradiction on HIPs:

“The Tories are finally responding to pressure from the green lobby, including Friends of the Earth and the WWF, and recognising that their stance on HIPs is completely at odds with their supposed green agenda: ‘Vote blue, go green’.

“Having insisted at every step of the way that HIPs should be scrapped, Shadow Minister for Housing Michael Gove now claims that the Conservatives will not use their vote to impede prompt and effective EPC implementation,”

“The Tories are being forced to recognise that HIPs hold a vital piece of environmental legislation, designed to improve the energy-efficiency of the UK’s homes and reduce our overall carbon emissions substantially. Any party who stands against it can not claim to be in favour of helping the environment”.