We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Selling your home - Home information pack (HIP pack & EPC) & Landlord TIPS
LegalComp
Posts: 3 Newbie
Quick word on the much heralded home information pack and EPC’s, brought in by New Labour towards the end of last year.
It is now required for all domestic properties being sold, and is an additional cost of about £230-£400 (£550 is the record found so far!) to the house selling process. It is illegal for an estate agent to begin marketing a property until one has been shown to have been commissioned. Also from October 1st 2008 landlords must be able to provide an EPC to all prospective tenants either prior to or at the viewing of the property. This elements can come as a surprise add-on expenditure to the average house seller or landlord, with ever rising bills & interest rates, but there are ways of bringing this figure down.
Contrary to all the HIP bad publicity, it is actually in the vendors interest as it should make the selling process easier, with less potential problems in the long run. Most of the relevant information should be available to the buyer before making an offer, rather than afterwards, and the seller should not be out of pocket either if they use the searches/HIP provided by the seller of the next property they plan to move into.
Here are some tips on getting the best deal:
LegalComp
It is now required for all domestic properties being sold, and is an additional cost of about £230-£400 (£550 is the record found so far!) to the house selling process. It is illegal for an estate agent to begin marketing a property until one has been shown to have been commissioned. Also from October 1st 2008 landlords must be able to provide an EPC to all prospective tenants either prior to or at the viewing of the property. This elements can come as a surprise add-on expenditure to the average house seller or landlord, with ever rising bills & interest rates, but there are ways of bringing this figure down.
Contrary to all the HIP bad publicity, it is actually in the vendors interest as it should make the selling process easier, with less potential problems in the long run. Most of the relevant information should be available to the buyer before making an offer, rather than afterwards, and the seller should not be out of pocket either if they use the searches/HIP provided by the seller of the next property they plan to move into.
Here are some tips on getting the best deal:
1) Never accept the first price offered for a HIP by your estate agents. Some of them have tie-ins to local solicitors and also take a commission on each home information pack referral. They are usually significantly more expensive than the others that are available via the internet
2) Before you have your on-site energy performance certificate (EPC) inspection, make sure you have fitted any energy saving light bulbs left around in the cupboards fitted in the sockets, along with any incomplete lagging work in your loft completed – these can make a significant difference to the overall scoring on your property. If you have had cavity wall insulation, make sure you inform the energy assessor of this, as it can often get missed on inspection.
3) National companies normally employ random energy assessors on a panel to come and trawl around your home. Local home information pack providers are probably the safest option and are often the cheapest as the home information pack compiler is the same person as the energy assessor. Make sure the energy assessor is on the governments register (go to governments home information pack website and type in their name) and their hips are regulated by the Property Code Compliance Board (PCCB) and HIPCode.
4) To find a local HIP provider take a look on yellow pages website or search the internet for one. Some of these companies are offering additional services but the only mandatory elements are the Index & Sales Statement, Local authority searches, Energy Performance Certificate, Land Registry & Title Plan, Drainage & Water Search and Lease documents (for leasehold properties only). The home condition report is now no longer a requirement, you may find it gets pushed but this does not need to be purchased, so don’t be coerced into buying one.
5) Should you live around the Greater Manchester region you could try Manchester Hips Ltd (www.manchester-hip.co.uk email [EMAIL="sales@manchester-hip.co.uk"]sales@manchester-hip.co.uk[/EMAIL] tel: 0845 450 6054) who charge £189.99+vat for the whole HIP (EPC is included and worth £49.99+vat). They use government-approved energy assessors, and the HIP is regulated by Property Code Compliance Board (PCCB). The PCCB give you recourse if errors or inconsistencies arise from your the HIP pack, and are detrimental to the sale value of your home.
If you follow these tips, you should get the best results, and never need to pay any more than £200-£250+vat for you HIPs pack!LegalComp
As per their policy, should the Conservative party abolish the Home Information Pack? 13 votes
Yes
61%
8 votes
No
15%
2 votes
It should be altered from its present format
23%
3 votes
Unsure
0%
0 votes
0
Comments
-
Smells like Spam0
-
Must be desperate for business!0
-
it is actually in the vendors interest as it should make the selling process easier, with less potential problems in the long run.
It saves the buyer the cost of and delay caused by a couple of searches, providing they are reasonably up to date, that's all.Most of the relevant information should be available to the buyer before making an offer,
What information does OP consider is relevant that is going to be in the HIP? It's either legal stuff the buyer won't necessarily understand or it's the EPC and I don't need to explain the usefulness or otherwise of that!
The seller is not going to willingly reveal that there are some dodgy cracks in the wall he hopes the buyer won't notice, or an extension has been built without some necessary consents - that all comes out later with a survey/as a result of further enquiries raised by the buyer's solicitor.RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0 -
The EPC is required due to a European Directive. Dont think it is really meant to be that helpful in terms of buying a property, it is really a carrot & stick approach to ensure long term change in consumer behaviour when it comes to energy conservation. Its a good idea, only because there is no other way of doing it, in particular with the energy crisis thats looming.
Regarding your second point, most buyers skim through the HIP before making an offer, and if there is anything they dont understand that sounds contentious then they will probably research it.
I agree that it would be better with a bulding survey included, and my guess is that will also be included once the HIPs are underway.
However I believe in the long term that they will prevent the number of offers being receded after several months of waiting, along with the stress & disappointment it causes, and that can only be a good thing...
LegalComp0 -
Quick word on...
Quick?? I fell asleep after the first paragraph!
I smell SPAM!!
If it's not SPAM, then remove your company details from the post!Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
Reported before.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.4K Spending & Discounts
- 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards