House Information Pack Discussion

shahidemran · 27 January 2006 at 8:59AM

The current home buying and selling process is stressful and fraught with delay. Under the 2004 Housing Act, from1 June 2007 people selling their homes will be required to provide a Home Information Pack (HIP) for the home they are selling.

The new system will transfer costs from buyers to sellers. Home Information Packs will cost between £600 and £700 +VAT for an average family home. But these are not additional costs.

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Please discuss here

TheDink · 27 January 2006 at 12:16PM

Surely they are additional costs?

The survey done as part of the pack is very high level, and done on behalf of the seller. The sensible buyer will still get their own survey done.

All I can see it will achieve is highlight any major problems with the property and discourage people putting property on the market just to see what kind of response they get, without any real intention of moving.

steedie1 · 27 January 2006 at 12:30PM

I don't like this idea, with houses not moving as quickly as in previous years,and some properties being on sale for months , what value is a house pack on a property that is over - say - 3 months old. If someone comes along months down the line who pays for an updated pack - new buyer, old buyer, estate agent?
I also believe that mortgage companies will wish to have their own surveys completed on houses , I cannot see them trusting a house pack that may be several months old?

so what advantage is there in having a house pack in the first place??

exil · 27 January 2006 at 2:28PM

Here's what "Which" has to say

"Which? supports the introduction of Home Information Packs, which will be compulsory when selling homes in England and Wales from 1 June 2007.
For far too long home buyers have had to rely on scant information from estate agents to make a decision about the most expensive product they are ever going to buy.

From 2007 they will be able to access up front a home information pack which contains all the information they currently only get once they have made an offer on a property. This means home buyers can make decisions on fact, not guesswork.

Which? will be working with the government and industry to ensure that Home Information Packs deliver real benefits to home movers.

From mid 2006 there will be a national dry-run of the packs, meaning that estate agents will be able to sell properties with packs. This will help identify any problems and make changes before they become compulsory in 2007."

So far the only organisation that has come out against this idea in principle are the Estate Agents. They say the packs would make a quick sale impossible. Maybe, but I don't see that as a major drawback. `

The "out of date" argument - maybe. I would have thought that a house wouldn't have a major change in its condition within a few months. Maybe the regulations should provide for an update (a full report wouldn't be needed) every 12 months.

BobProperty · 27 January 2006 at 5:17PM

See http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=137911
And as for "But these are not additional costs. The new system will transfer costs from buyers to sellers." This is typical 'not thought out' ODPM rubbish. The seller will have to pay for a survey. The buyer may want to pay for a survey. The lender will want the buyer to pay for a valuation. Where's the saving twojags?

claz · 27 January 2006 at 5:56PM

i think it is a really good idea because i am a first time buyer in the process of purchasing a property which after paying £400 for a home buyers report through the mortgage company i then had to pay £1000 fir a full structural survey a dmap survey and a electrical report

i knew the property i wanted to buy was run down but now my partner and i are looking at spending thousands before we have even moved in, we are lucky that we have parents who have agreed us to lone the money as we would of lost so much, if we would of known the information we do now eg. the condition, the fact thats its not registered with the land registry i think we would of though twice

in my opinion if everyone who is selling their house has the pack made up then eventually they will get the money backas they won't have to pay out for reports that need doing to get a mortgage like myself, it will also allow estate agents to value the property more effectively rather than vendors saying well the house down the road sold for X so mine should sell for XX, it will also stop people putting their house on the market when they aren't to sure if they want to sell (this happened to my parents 2 days before exchange of contracts a woman pulled out of the sale which involved a chain of 4)!!!!

BobProperty · 27 January 2006 at 6:56PM

claz wrote:

i think it is a really good idea because i am a first time buyer in the process of purchasing a property which after paying £400 for a home buyers report through the mortgage company i then had to pay £1000 fir a full structural survey a dmap survey and a electrical report

HIPs won't save you from either of those costs.

claz wrote:

in my opinion if everyone who is selling their house has the pack made up then eventually they will get the money backas they won't have to pay out for reports that need doing to get a mortgage like myself, it will also allow estate agents to value the property more effectively rather than vendors saying well the house down the road sold for X so mine should sell for XX, it will also stop people putting their house on the market when they aren't to sure if they want to sell (this happened to my parents 2 days before exchange of contracts a woman pulled out of the sale which involved a chain of 4)!!!!

It will stop people just putting their house on with an estate agent just to test the market. You will always have to pay out for the survey for the mortgage company. The idea of having a survey and valuation in the HIP was dropped after the first trials. There are various difficulties with the concept and the implications, see my earlier post.
I tracked back to the telegraph article and another site mentioned in the article. Both make interesting reading.

JUSTICE4ALLCONSUMERS · 28 January 2006 at 7:23AM

Surely the HIP will be good for potential buyers,as the valuation should stop over inflated pricing.Thus speeding the process up for all,and not finding you have purchased a liability ! Realistic pricing gives you a far better chance to attain
97%-100% of the asking price-this has to be good.
Thankyou.

david29dpo · 28 January 2006 at 7:28AM

would you buy a second hand car that the seller has had is OWN inspection on? no, nor would i.

Debt_Free_Chick · 28 January 2006 at 9:31AM

david29dpo wrote:

would you buy a second hand car that the seller has had is OWN inspection on? no, nor would i.

That rather depends ... if the seller gave me a copy of an AA report, then I'd be happy.

The information in the buyer's pack is supposed to be from qualified professionals and not simply the seller's view of things.

However, I can see buyers' solicitors warning their clients that they cannot rely on the seller's report so they should get their own. Now that will be an additional cost!

afinn · 28 January 2006 at 10:17AM

From what I understand the buyers' lender will still want their own survey carried out on a property so the sellers survey will be for information purposes only unless, of course, you are a cash buyer.
Truth is if you want to speed up the house buying/selling process you only need to speed up the conveyancer/solicitor. Most lenders can get mortgage offers out within 3 weeks, local searches in most areas only take about 10 working days and the rest is up to the solicitors. I have known a solicitor take 4 weeks just to raise enquiries. Even now with an efficient solicitor you can exchange contracts in 4 weeks so why do some take up to 12 weeks to get to that stage.

House Information Pack Discussion

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