The Conservative Party is warning investors of the risks of holding shares in providers Home Information Packs (HIPs), the governments flagship policy for speeding up the house sale process, and recommending that any such companies diversity their business. Shadow Ministers have pledged that an incoming Conservative Government will pass legislation to scrap the requirement for a home owner to purchase a Pack.

In the statement Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps said of HIP ''Given a Conservative Government will scrap this red tape, investing in Home Information Pack companies should now carry a health warning.''

''Sensible investors should consider the high risk involved in this business, and companies would do well to diversify. The days of Home Information Packs are numbered, and the housing market will be better when they go.''

However, Mike Ockenden, Director General of HIP provider trade body the AHIPP said ''I find it astonishing that the Tories feel it is their place to give investment advice to businesses, particularly in such volatile market conditions. Companies that have invested in HIPs have done so because the HIP industry will make them work to the benefit of home buyers and sellers. By the time any future Tory administration takes office HIPs will be a routine part of the process and accepted as a valuable tool by all.''

The HIP industry is largely made up of experienced property professionals that understand the benefits that HIPs can provide to better inform consumers and streamline the home buying and selling process. It is highly unlikely that they will be influenced by further political posturing.

Ockenden added ''I wonder how Grant Schapps might respond to anyone who takes his advice and misses out on the returns that investment in HIPs may bring in future years.