HIPs

It is a measure of the government's absolute desperation that it has chosen today to announce that HIPs will be compulsory for all house sales from December 14.

They are deeply unpopular and, far from speeding sales, are likely only to slow them. Which you might have thought the government was anxious to avoid given the almost certain fall in the housing market.

In short, a completely pointless extra layer of expensive (but of course!) bureaucracy that will do nothing but bugger people about andwith unknowable conomic consequences.

And that's good news?