"Sellers pack"

lynzpower

But surely SOME ( and im by no means saying all of them) searches wil come up with the same information when I sell the place as when I bought it. Ie contaminated land, water piping, train line extension mapping, mining reports.

Sorry, but maybe you are right and I simply dont know enough about it. Say the HIPS were in place already. I decide to sell now. I get together my hip with all my land searches and a structural survey. I have a feeling ( having only been in the flat 18 months) that there are no issues to put of prospective buyers in relation to the structure, and to the land that its built on. I have a gleaming HIP. I give that HIP to my prospective buyers solicitor. Will they not accept ANY of the searches or anything thats in the HIP? Will the solicitor wish to do ALL of the searches again? Any buyer would be wise to do thier own survey of course if they wish to, but as for all the searches ( these took the most when I bought mine it has to be said) I woud suggest that this *could* ( as in my case) shave a month off the time taken to secure the property.

Jorgan_2

Lynzpower, when HIPS (Home Information Packs) are introduced you will be paying a lot more, in my opinion, to sell your flat and buy another one. You will have to pay for the HIP on the property that you will be selling, at an average fee of £800 + VAT, you will still have to employ a solicitor on your purchase to check the contents of the HIP on that property. If you are having a mortgage on the purchase, a mortgage valuation will have to be carried out on that property, more cost. You may want to have your own survey carried out on the property to make sure that the one with the HIP is accurate & not (potentially) out of date. More cost.

I do agree that people will be able to make informed decisions, which has to be a good thing. However the I can't see the pilot scheme resolving many issues. The pilot is due to run until the end of May with the scheme starting June 1st. Doesn't leave much time to make any changes. The pilot scheme will be voluntary, how many sellers will pay for a HIP when they don't have to?

It doesn't seem that there will be enough Home Condition Report Inspectors to carry out the Inspections, surveyors at present do not have the right qualifications.

This legislation was brought in under numerous smoke screens, firstly it would speed up the house buying process. The introduction of e-conveyancing has cut down conveyancing times, HIPS doesn't take into account the speed that a solicitor or mortgage lender work at.

It would stop gazumping. By providing all the information up front to a buyer it could actually make gazumping easier & therefore more probable.

It will help first time buyers get on the property ladder. As I have said, there will still be the costs involved as a purchaser.

It will take the frustration out the buying/selling process. A buyer or seller can still withdraw, up until exchange of contracts, at any time without recourse to the other party.

The reason many feel it has been introduced is because the government signed up to a European agreement with regards to energy rating on property. They could either pay out to have this information collected or let the public pay for it directly, hence the introduction of HIPs.

These of course are just my opinions.

Jorgan_2

Lynzpower, just read your other posting. A new HIP will have to be prepared each time a property is put on the market. If you bought a property off plan from a builder then re-sold when it had completed, you will need a HIP.

lynzpower

No it wasnt offplan when I bought it, but yes, thanks for that, Im aware that if I dont sell before they come in, I'll have to get one.

[Deleted User]

Lynzpower - are you telling me that you would trust someone else's pack whose only interest is to make their property sound attractive to sell. simply to save time. It is the biggest single purchase that you'll ever make in your life, and you're telling me that to save 1 months' time, you will be happy to trust the sellers information. Tell me, if something has been missed out from the searches, who would you sue - certainly not your solicitor particularly if he/she advised you against trusting the document. I am sure under those circumsatnces, you will want your own - and there you are, twice the cost which you have to find as a buyer/seller. Hope you are now beginning to understand what we are very concerned about. This could jeopardise the housing market.

As for your other post about the state of your flat with the thin walls and noise, tell me why did you buy it? I have seen some very nice new builds in the last few months, and I can tell you, the building regulations now are so tight that the insulation is superb. I do not see why the walls in your flat are so poor. From what you say, if the HIPs is law today, you will have problems selling your falt, as it will never pass the building regulations. So what are you going to do about it? Pass it to some unsuspecting buyer no doubt.

lynzpower

Not really. the reason I bought it was because it was shared ownership in the area where I live. As it goes, plenty of other people i know live in new builds and they are equally loud.. Maybe its just london, maybe im oversensitive to noise who knows? No one was living in the block when I came to look round. When people are coming to the flat to buy it, they will be able to hear for themselves people walking round upstairs and next door. I certainly wont be trying to hide anything from my potential buyers. Its just not my style. So, what your saying is that If hips comes in, ill have trouble selling my flat? So therefore it WILL make it better for the buyer who can avoid buying my paperwalled flat?

Doozergirl

lindabea wrote:

There was no dressing down as you put it. I was merely stating to lynzpower to be more careful about expressing opinions, particularly when they have not been thought out.

Maybe you should try reading your own posts back then. There's nothing wrong with being forthright, but your comments, certainly to me, read as being harsh and directly aimed at another poster. You can't really be surprised that someone would retaliate if they felt they were being attacked.

[Deleted User]

Doozergirl wrote:

Maybe you should try reading your own posts back then. There's nothing wrong with being forthright, but your comments, certainly to me, read as being harsh and directly aimed at another poster. You can't really be surprised that someone would retaliate if they felt they were being attacked.

The problem is that you are doing the attacking. And my reply was directed at lynzpower - not you. I don't recall doing any attacking, so please be careful of your accusations. I can't be held responsible for your mis- interpretation of what I said. I was only disagreeing with lynzpower's comments and particularly about her mis-informed knowledge on HIPs. I think you took my comments out of context.

Doozergirl

If you really think I'm attacking you then you really should read back through your posts. I'm not normally confrontational, but I do believe that if someone takes offence to what you say then a simple apology is all it takes to put things right.

So, I'll do the big thing and say that I'm sorry if I upset you.

mjanet

Originally Posted by lindabea
There was no dressing down as you put it. I was merely stating to lynzpower to be more careful about expressing opinions, particularly when they have not been thought out.[/

I TOTALLY agree with Doozergirl, you may not of meant it ,but your attitude towards lynzpower came accross as very harsh and infact quite rude.As for your comments not being meant for anyone else they are on a forum and people can freely respond to them, especially if they believe someone is being harshly 'spoken' to as this is a usually friendly site where everyone helps everyone.If someone is wrong in one of their posts then the others correct them , in a decent manner , as others in this thread have.Some new people may be nervous about posting and if they see an attitude like this appears to be it could but them off.It does not make anyone more superiour just because they may know a little more then another person.

Originally Posted by lynzpower
Sorry, but maybe you are right

The only person who deserves an appoligy is you