RICHARD à BRASSARD and his glamorous wife Sandy had hoped to sell their four-bedroom home in Clapham, South London, but now plan to wait a few months to find out how the market reacts to Hips. à Brassard, a director of the estate agency Courtenay, is well-informed about Hips. But inertia has afflicted the industry since the second delay in May: “Before the last ‘introduction’ we had about 20 e-mails a day from Hip providers. Now that has dwindled to a trickle.” He is most concerned about the effect on prices, especially as rate increases have squeezed budgets: “Already there is a real shortage of property on the market because the rungs on the ladder are now so great. A starting price for a house is about £1 million here, but somewhere with a bit more space is £1.8 million.”
2007-07-28