House Information Packs and Punishments

purdown

I am unemployed and receiving no benefits and I wish to market my house to obtain money to live on. Estate Agents tell me that I can't put my house on the market without HIPS. They also said I can defer the HIPS fee for six months. However, if my house doesn’t sell I will have to pay the fee or face a fine. They then said that putting my house on the market without HIPS will attract a £200 fine.
Having no income and being unable to pay the fine will result in contempt of court and a prison sentence.
The HIPS rules have therefore rendered my house worthless until I can find employment.
However, with the possibility of a prison sentence for marketing my house, I am of the impression that my house has a negative value.
Most people wouldn't want to own an asset that attracts a prison sentence for trying to sell it.
Should I just market my house and accept the resulting prison sentence?
How long is the sentence likely to be for contempt of court over a £200 fine?
Will I still be expected to pay the fine after I have served my prison sentence?
Why have the Government made criminals out of innocent people who have absolutely no criminal intent what so ever?

princessamy86

EAs legally can't market a property without a HIP so if you really want to sell you need to find a way to pay. You don't have to purchase your HIP through the agent, shop around for the best price and see what payment options they can offer you. Some companies will let you pay the HIP out of the proceeds of the sale, others will allow you to pay weekly or monthly. I'm assuming you have some form of income, otherwise how are you affording to eat/pay bills etc? I very much doubt it will come down to a prison sentence, so possibly you're being a bit overdramatic. Don't forget you'll have to pay other costs associated with selling eg legal fees; how were you thinking of paying for them?

purdown

Thanks for your reply.
I have no income at all as the job centre said there are gaps in my National Insurance contributions. I have been on zero income for over 18 months despite working and paying tax for nearly thirty years.
My partner has a minimum wage job that only just covers food and energy bills.
I would pay all legal and land registry fees from the proceeds of my house. However, if my house doesn't sell I won't have the funds to pay the HIPS fee.
Contempt of court always results in a prison sentence without exception.

princessamy86

purdown wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.
I have no income at all as the job centre said there are gaps in my National Insurance contributions. I have been on zero income for over 18 months despite working and paying tax for nearly thirty years.
My partner has a minimum wage job that only just covers food and energy bills.
I would pay all legal and land registry fees from the proceeds of my house. However, if my house doesn't sell I won't have the funds to pay the HIPS fee.
Contempt of court always results in a prison sentence without exception.

Wasn't aware of that myself, and they say prisons are overcrowded . If your house doesn't sell, no you won't have any money to pay HIP but some companies give you quite a long time (the one we use at work is 10 months) so if you price realistically you've a fair chance of selling in that time period. It might be just a risk you have to take, is there nobody who could help you out with the money? 0% credit card then pay it off out of sale proceeds? Depends how desperately you need to sell!

purdown

I spoke to my bank regarding a loan, but they won't lend to customers who have no income.
I own the house outright, so I offered them the deeds as security, but that was not accepted.
Even if I had an income, they would only be willing to lend me a minimum of £5000, which is far more than I would need.
I don't mind any Government introducing HIPS as long as they pay for it!

poppysarah

You could defer the HIPS fee for 6 months during which time you could find a job or have sold the house.

purdown

I have applied for over 500 jobs in the last twelve months without success and I'm not the only one.
Houses are not selling quickly due to the financial mess this country is currently suffering.
Perhaps a future change of Government will scrap HIPS and also possibly get this country back on it's feet.

Doozergirl

The market is moving at the moment with houses going under offer and estate agents reporting a marked increase in activity. If you want to sell then now might be a good time - it's not as bad as it has been. If you are motivated to sell and prepared to price realistically and don't have to worry about a huge mortgage to pay off then I don't think you have much to lose but I'd get the house on the market now.


I'd also go and have a word on the benefits board. I can't believe that people who have never had any income can get benefits and you can't ever. Even if people walk away from their jobs they just have a waiting period before they can claim.

sarah_elton

You can get a HIP done online for about £175 at the cheapest. Do you have any friends or family you could borrow the money from until the house sells?

The EA's HIP will cost you quite a bit more than that.

You can also compile a HIP yourself if you have the time, and then you just have to pay for certain individual documents - someone on here should know how much that will cost you.

I do find your original post quite melodramatic too. A HIP is by far the cheapest cost of selling a house. I've just spent £209 on HIP but over £2k on the estate agent! I appreciate the cash flow issue involved, but if you have no way of accessing or saving up £200 over six months, what would you do if you had something need repairing at home? (e.g. boiler break-down)

You'll also find the £200 fine is a non option - most estate agents will refuse to market the property for you until the HIP has been ordered.

Agree with doozer that at the very least you'll be entitled to Jobseekers Allowance.

poppysarah

purdown wrote: »

I have applied for over 500 jobs in the last twelve months without success and I'm not the only one.
.

You need help with your job hunting before you worry about selling your asset maybe. Do you not qualify for any of the help from the job centre?

purdown

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your comment.
I have no family or friends who can lend me money.
I agree that a HIP is the cheapest element in selling a house and far cheaper than estate agent fees.
However, if you don't use an estate agent you aren't eligible for a fine or imprisonment.
I don't qualify for contribution based Job Seekers Allowance due to gaps in my National Insurance contributions.
I don't qualify for income based Job Seekers allowance due to my partners very low wage.
I wonder if I need a HIPS to offer my house for sale on Ebay?
Would Ebay accept a house advert without a HIPS?
One of my reasons for selling is due to fear of things such as boiler break down etc.