Home Information Packs Update

As I am sure you are aware, the most radical change in the property transfer system is due to take place in June this year.

The Government has decided that from this date onwards, any residential property entering the market must provide a HIP before being marketed. The contents of the Home Information Pack will include:

• Copies of the title
• Relevant office copy entries
• Searches
• Sellers information form
• Energy efficiency report (EER)
• If leasehold then a copy of the lease and any accounts/insurance information must also be included

Up until July 2006 a Home Conditions Report (HCR) which was a new form of survey was also to be included. These would have been carried out by newly qualified Homes Inspectors (HI) together with existing surveyors achieving this new qualification. This was the most controversial item in the HIP as it represented at least 50% of the total cost.
4,000 HI's were required by June 2007 to carry out the HCR's. When the requirement was dropped only 230 had qualified.

Including the HCR, the cost of a HIP was quoted anywhere between £650 and £1000. A whole new multi million pound industry had been generated on the back of supplying HIPs. Most of the main players have withdrawn from that market since the need for the HCR was dropped. We will support any improvements on the current system which is the most anarchic in the world. But is the reduced HIP the answer?

The idea was to have all relevant information available so a decision can be immediately made by the purchaser whether to proceed. Our experience is that the majority of vendors are reluctant to incur cost unless a buyer is found. This is why the current estate agents "no sale no fee" system is popular.

Whatever your political persuasion, anytime the Government has got involved in the property market, it has resulted in disastrous effects. The remaining items left in the HIP will do little to speed up the selling process, bearing in mind that the slowest aspect of any property sale is often the purchasers mortgage offer.

All main governing bodies including the National Association of Estate Agents, The Law Society and the Council of Mortgage Lenders are all against HIPs. Despite this, the Government has predominantly ignored these opinions and has chosen to proceed with this ill thought out piece of legislation.

But it is not all doom and gloom. Since the removal of HCR, there has been a fast moving campaign to prevent HIPS ever happening. SPLINTA (Sellers pack law is not the answer) has the support of currently 1800 firms of estate agents in England and Wales representing 3500 offices. There are many high profile supporters including co-presenters of Channel 4's "Location, Location, Location", Kirsty Allsopp and Phil Spencer, who have been very vocal in their objection to the new system. We will be campaigning and keeping you closely updated in forthcoming newsletters. In the meantime if you happen to bump into your local MP and feel as strongly about the situation as we do, please have a word!