05 December 2007

Hips home packs get full roll-out

The government has announced home information packs (Hips) will be required for all properties being sold in England and Wales from 14 December.  

Since September, all properties with three or more bedrooms have required a Hip before they can be sold.
The packs have proved controversial, with many critics claiming that they have made it more difficult and expensive to sell property.

The government insists the packs are bringing benefits to consumers with their claiming the average cost of a Hip being between £300 and £350. The general feeling with practitioners is that the average cost is nearer £550.00
In the event you use Hart Brown for your HIP preparation and if you then use us for your conveyancing the cost of the HIP will be between £330.00 and £400.00 depending on the local authority from whom we obtain the local search.

The HIP will include full searches rather than personal searches that most HIP providers are supplying and the HIP will belong to you as opposed to the estate agent through whom the HIP is obtained."

Leasehold problems
The decision to extend Hips to all properties follows an independent review carried out by Europe Economics.
This found "no evidence of any impact on transactions or prices" beyond a "predicted" and "marginal" short-term impact on new listings.

The report also concluded that any delay to the planned roll-out due to "changing housing market conditions" would cause "greater market difficulties and uncertainties".

But the government acknowledges the owners of leasehold properties have faced difficulties.

In some cases it has been difficult to obtain leasehold documents quickly, and "disproportionate charges" have on occasion been requested.

At the moment sellers must commission a Hip before they can put their property on the market, but have a 28-day window for it to be finalised.

The government has now said it will extend for six months the current exemption which lets leasehold documents be provided after the 28-day deadline.

It will also delay the introduction of new rules meaning a property cannot be put on the market until the Hip has been completed.

This change had been due to take effect on 1 January 2008, but will now not apply until 1 June 2008.

For further information please contact David Knapp – Partner – Head of Residential Property on 01483 887766.