Petition to get rid of HIPS

Transalper

Are there any links to a petition to do away with the HIP pack If not can somebody please start one?
They are the biggest rip off since decimalisation!:mad: They do not give true accurate or true energy use costs in the EPC. If they did, nobody would bother to read them. The house selling market has certainly got no quicker with them. They work to a negative advantage if you have a flat roof (no loft space) or no central heating, even if the alternative is just as energy efficient. The searches part are next to useless if after a certain time the lender regards them out of date and have to be redone. A total waste of £300 I could have done without spending. My solicitor and estate agent both share my views on this too.
I have complained to the person who did the HIP who referred me to the relevant body to complain to. My several complaints have gone unanswered.

pawpurrs

Whilst I agree completley, I cant see them getting rid of them (unfortunetly) in fact they are now applying them to commercial propertys and propertys for let. Totally crazy.

ginvzt

Sorry, but I like HIP - it gives me a bit more complete picture of the property and what the running costs might be. And I like reading EPCs. Also, EPC is the only place where I can find indicative size of the house in square metres, and not number of rooms.

poppysarah

I think they should have to include an IR picture of the house to show where heat escapes - and that would make them instantly more worthwhile. And perhaps even include that blower door test.

The HIP should be shown will all properties online.

I think they're a good idea. It helps eliminate some of the problems with selling houses such as title deeds not being sorted out after deaths etc.

Transalper

Sorry, but I like HIP - it gives me a bit more complete picture of the property and what the running costs might be. And I like reading EPCs. Also, EPC is the only place where I can find indicative size of the house in square metres, and not number of rooms.

If you are interested in a property, the room measurements are normally on the back of the colour photo that the estate agents give you. I don't know about online but I would be inclined to ask for the details like this if they didn't.
.My EPC was totally inaccurate in respect of the one bed flat I am selling. The figures were way over estimated. More in line with a family of four's use I would say. I have rented out this property for 6 years to at least three couples and singles . No body has ever come close to the results of the estimated energy use costs.

Mr_helpful

The EPC is a european directive but yes the rest is a waste of time

puddy

i'll be honest, i had mine done in june just before i put my flat on the market, although they have emailed me the documents i havent even read them, ive got no interest in it at all. i feel annoyed that i have paid for that, when i buy my property, i will have to get all my own checks and searches done. what buyer in their right mind would buy somewhere based on the sellers checks and results? even if they were upto date. what mortgage company is goingt o be happy with checks and searches that were done by me the seller, 4 months (or more) before their mortgagee buys the property?

they are pointless

Transalper

We are paying at least £300 because some people might like to read info that really unless the property is a of a large or complex design there is little point of having. In a small property you can almost say it would be pretty obvious if it was very poor on efficiency. Other things like how old the boiler or appliances are and previous energy invoices are a good clue.

PropertyPro

On the whole, they don't work.

The vast majority of purchasers take little or no notice of the EPC. Sellers don't like paying for the document and some are so confused by the whole thing, they are not marketing their property at all.

Buyers solicitors often advise their clients to have more comprehensive searches carried out rather than the personal searches that some HIP providers use.

The comments above about certain elements of the HIP being useful are certainly valid, but my opinion is that its shambolic implementation into the property buying/selling procedure has had more of a negative effect on the market than is widely realised.

tbs624

Transalper wrote: »

Are there any links to a petition to do away with the HIP pack If not can somebody please start one?

Try here here or here or start one of your own off, if the wording doesn't meet your needs.

EPCs are the ones that really get to me - total waste of time and money. There is no info provided in them that you could not pull together yourself in a more useful form.
It's a prize example of "looking busy, doing nothing". Think of all the miles driven by the DEAs , all the paper and ink used to produce the pretty charts, all the electricity to keep the DEAs computers on standby in case they get a rush of orders for yet more worthless bits of paper, and that's not counting all the heat and lighting for the offices whilst Europe & UK Parliamentary groups sat around discussing it. Some of them will have flown in or driven there in a big petrol guzzling ministerial car - fabulous support for the stated aims of the Kyoto agreement, which is what EPCs are supposed to be all about.:mad:

ellersb

There are a few of these petitions on http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ .

We got ours done in June (or May) for £350 quid. The graph things was completely estimated, no one ever came to the flat to see what kind of boiler we have, check insulation or anything.
It stated that our boiler and thermostat aren't efficient - how the hell do they know!?! Also, that we should have energy efficient light bulbs - we do!!!

The estimated costs of running are so hard to compare as it gives costs for lighting, heating and water, and then 'electricity' so how does that work out?!

I'm planning on printing out our house account bank monthly statement (blocking out balances, a/c numbers etc) and highlighting the monthly costs for electric, gas, water, council tax and service charge. Don't get much more accurate - the only thing that'll change is usage but no one can know what that'll be.