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Do HIP's Expire?
Transalper
Posts: 96 Forumite
I am one of the lucky ones (so far!) to have a buyer for my property, after 6 months of putting it on the market I accepted an offer. This was 9 weeks ago and the buyers solicitors appear to be dragging their feet. Now I’m told that the search part of the dreaded HIP is out of date and now has to be done again at cost to me of £110. Is this true does it expire after 6 months?? I thought the whole HIP package lasted at least a year if not more. 
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Most buyers would want to redo the searches as new things crop up all the time (planning applications) however if they want a new one then its up to them to pay........however I wouldnt lose a buyer over it IYSWIM.Pawpurrs x
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Most Lenders require a search to be 6 months or less at the date of exchange. But usually a buyer would indeed pay!0
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Yes the solicitor asked would I be willing to pay for another search. Its a cost I could do without but agreed to try and speed things up. Even so people taking a HIP out should be aware of this. The search part should be done when someone accepts an offer not before. The process has got no quicker with HIPs0
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The point of the hip was the searches were valid for the duration the property is marketed.
If the mortgage providers are now saying they need to be refreshed every 6 months i want my £305 back.0 -
The position has always been that local searches more than 2-3 months old were not considered acceptable. Most lenders will accept a search validation insurance policy which is quite cheap to obtain - perhaps £30-£40 for most average value properties (not in London or Sandbanks). I've found when acting for buyers that sellers' solicitors simply refuse to pay for anything saying it is up to the buyer if he wants a more up to date search. Then the buyer has to make a fuss and threaten to withdraw etc and for the cost of a validation policy it is scarcely worth that.
The drainage search is not really vital in most cases so I wouldn't normally bother worrying about how old that was.
If you are selling you can't leave doing the local search until you have a buyer as that is breach of the HIP regulations, but does show how silly the whole scheme is.
Although there is a marginal advantage in having the result of the local search available, it is quite rare that there is something in it that makes a difference to a buyer's decision as to whether or not he should proceed, so why have it in the HIP or why have a HIP in the first place?
The government got the idea into its heads that they could do something about house buying and selling, wouldn't listen to those actually involved with the process, and gradually the scheme unravelled to what we have now....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 whole Hip pack including the EP measurement which they got completely wrong is the biggest waste of money ever. I wish I could have them for miss-selling, I was not made aware of the facts, just told I would have to have one or get fined. If you put the words "HIP waste of money "into google there are many who agree.0
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I suspect that Richard is in agreement with me - I have found no help at all with HIP packages - especially as local searches rarely take any length of time and it is frequently the mortgage offer that holds things up rather than a search!0
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Hello everyone. This is my first post!
What I would like to know is: we signed up for one in January when house went on market & deferred the £406 payment for 10 months. It is now due but the house hasn't sold yet. Is there anyway of getting out of this large payment until the house has actually sold? Just seems really unfair demanding this money when since January we've only had 4 viewings in total anyway
When I phoned them they said they could send round debt collectors but not sure if this is just a scare tactic?0 -
superstarjeans wrote: »Hello everyone. This is my first post!
What I would like to know is: we signed up for one in January when house went on market & deferred the £406 payment for 10 months. It is now due but the house hasn't sold yet. Is there anyway of getting out of this large payment until the house has actually sold? Just seems really unfair demanding this money when since January we've only had 4 viewings in total anyway
When I phoned them they said they could send round debt collectors but not sure if this is just a scare tactic?
Sorry, who is 'them'? A HIP company, estate agents or solicitors? You will need to check what you have signed to see if there is a way around this issue.0 -
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