I am writing in response to your articles on the delayed introduction of home information packs (Hips) and the RICS鈥� stance on the scheme.

I was among the first candidates to enroll for a home inspection diploma course, back in 2004, and I qualified in January 2006. Since then, most of the candidates that took the course at the same time as me have endured delay after delay. In the beginning, it was the Award Body for the Built Environment that refused to mark the 鈥減rofile submissions鈥� 鈥� part of the qualification 鈥� and months of work had to be resubmitted, although the reason why was unclear.

Then, of course, it seemed that the RICS鈥� opposition, coupled with that of members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, would prevent the Hips system from being used altogether. It was this opposition, and the confusion it caused, that put off many of those newly qualified home inspectors from paying another 拢500-700 for registration. Who could blame them? The process has cost us thousands of pounds in lost work and study hours, so another 拢700 without any guarantee of work is just too great a leap of faith!

Robert Vaughan, , Springboard Housing Association

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