Forty per cent of trainee Home Inspectors have failed to pass the examinations required to become qualified, which has thrown the future of Home Information Packs into question. The Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE) have said that out of the first 500 trainees, 200 people failed to pass the exam. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 home inspectors, will be needed by June 2007. The ABBE have confirmed that the majority of the 500 trainees already had significant experience in the housing industry, including a number of chartered surveyors and local authority building inspectors.
Our view
This is totally unacceptable. To think that people will be buying and selling homes on the back of these reports is madness. We have known about Home Information Packs for around five years now and to be in this position with such a short time to go is unsatisfactory.