Disaster for 1,000 trainees as HIP firm goes under

[Sportingdad]

Whould you trust a HIP or EPC training firm ? or anyone in the Property Training Business, It's sad some of these people are promised £50k a year for HIPs (that the conservatives say they will remove if they win the election) and providing EPC's that I doubt if 10% of Landlords are carrying out, such is the deperate state of the EPC market that we have now been hit with a rash of £25-35 flyers.

Slick high commission salespersons are just pushing expensive training of non-jobs, this is an area that must be regulated.


Disaster for 1,000 trainees as HIP firm goes under

At least 1,000 people training to be Domestic Energy Assessors are thought to have been caught up in the collapse into administration of a HIP training firm.

It is thought that there were some 800 people actively in training, plus a large number who had started their training but dropped out, although they have not officially signed off.


Some are believed to be former soldiers who will have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They and others face losing all their savings and, to complete their training elsewhere, will have to find more money.

The Surrey-based business Property Professionals, which changed its name from Home Inspector Training, went into administration last week.

Its sister company, HIP HIP Hooray, is believed still to be trading, although a source outside the company claimed it had not paid suppliers for two months and staff had not received their full salaries for January.

One DEA said he had been approached by another energy assessment firm to do work for Hamptons – work he had previously done through HIP HIP Hooray. But he said he had not been paid for the last nine EPCs done for Hamptons and was surprised that the work had apparently been picked up by another panel type of business.

Many of the Property Professionals (formerly HIT) trainees are believed to have spent their redundancy money on training. Others are ex-Forces personnel who spent their resettlement allowances. Many had to take out extra loans to pay for the £10,000 courses.

Property Professionals had four training centres, at its headquarters in Tolworth near Kingston in Surrey, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester.

Joseph Pestell, secretary of the Institute of Home Inspection, said: “I have visited a couple of these training centres and they are large. Any room would have 15 or so people in it at any one time. They were training for what they had been told would be lucrative new careers as Domestic Energy Assessors, commercial assessors or fire risk assessors.

“Many of these students now have little prospect of completing their training and qualifications,” he said. “I suspect that 1,000 is an under-estimate of the numbers involved, although hopefully we will know more this week.

“Many of these are vulnerable people, recently made redundant or on armed forces’ resettlement grants. Many have taken out loans to finance their training.

“Over the past two years, the Institute has repeatedly raised concerns with the Government and public authorities about the company and its associated companies. Sadly, no action has been taken.

“It is really too early to say at this stage how the situation may be resolved for the trainees, but the Institute is already in contact with the appropriate authorities, including the Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE) and other training providers to see what may be done to help.”

He said he was mystified that Property Professionals had gone into administration, as he said his understanding was that it had been cash-rich to the tune of £8m a few years ago

[jeffrey]

...Or did the employees (when gulled into their positions with the lure of money for old rope) believe that the HIP ripoff scheme had inherent worth?

[jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Sportingdad

He said he was mystified that Property Professionals had gone into administration, as he said his understanding was that it had been cash-rich to the tune of £8m a few years ago

Cherchez l'argent.

[Sportingdad]

Must be a paper trail somewhere, by the way Jeffrey you appear to be stuck on 23,500 !

[bullybantam]

Originally Posted by Sportingdad

Slick high commission salespersons are just pushing expensive training of non-jobs, this is an area that must be regulated.

Regulations about another regulation

Ain't it just easier to get rid of HIPS?

[Sportingdad]

Originally Posted by bullybantam

Regulations about another regulation

Ain't it just easier to get rid of HIPS?

I agree, this country is becoming so over regulated we are drowning in them, but some of the posters on here most notably Paul F and M-T-G want more.

[bullybantam]

Originally Posted by Sportingdad

I agree, this country is becoming so over regulated we are drowning in them, but some of the posters on here most notably Paul F and M-T-G want more.

Established operators often want more regulation. Not to protect consumers, but to stifle new entrants to the market

[quarterday]

what a mess..............

[mind the gap]

Originally Posted by Sportingdad

I agree, this country is becoming so over regulated we are drowning in them, but some of the posters on here most notably Paul F and M-T-G want more.

For the record:

I disassociate myself from any views (on anything) posted by Paul f. He is a former letting agent who runs (in my view) overpriced training courses for letting agents. If he supports more regulation for letting agents, his reasons for doing so may reasonably be deduced to be connected with offering training to support that regulation, but he must speak for himself, in the end.

I am not a letting agent, although by letting out and managing my own properties I have learnt what is essential. It really is not difficult. What I struggle to understand is why so many letting agents make such a pig's ear of it and how they get away with charging so much for making a pig's ear of it. Cast your eye down the thread titles on this forum and you will see what I mean. Letting agents like to think of themselves as professionals, and no doubt some are. Many are not. It bothers me to some degree that LLs are ripped off by them, but it bothers me more that they are too often lazy, unprofessional or just downright incompetent where tenants are concerned.

It is hardly surprising that people like Sportingdad break out in a sweat at the thought of regulation because he is a letting agent and turkeys do not vote for Christmas.

HIPs will/would only be worth producing if they were trusted by both purchasers and vendors alike, which they aren't.

My views on EPCs have been explained more than once.

[islandgirl]

Paul F helped me a lot when I had a problem and had to evict for the first time - cheers Paul!