Home Information Packs - are you for them or against them?

BobProperty

Gorgeous_George wrote:

I know HIPs are unpopular but the current system is barking.

If a sale has been agreed and costs incurred, those costs should be recoverable if either party renages on the deal. The seller should put £500 into a bond when they first advertise their home for sale. On acceptance of an offer, the buyer should match the £500. The £1000 should be used to compensate the injured party if anything goes wrong and the sale does not proceed.



GG

I had a though about this a day or two back. My suggestion is a deposit of 1% of the purchase price. Non-refundable if buyer pulls out except for survey say undervaluing house by say over 5% of selling price. There may have to be other safeguards but you can see the way I'm heading. Compensates vendor for loss of marketing and pratting about.

BobProperty

courtjester wrote:

The Energy efficiency Report (EER) is a good thing long term as it will encourage builders to improve construction and sellers to improve insulation as buyers start to compare efficiency as part of the process of selection....

and to Lushwalrus. I am aware that Part L is designed to improve the energy efficiency of new builds and in general I'm for that. The problem with putting a guide in a HIP was that it would be of extremely little influence on the buying decision. If you need a bigger house, near a decent school you aren't going to be put off by the fact that all the property in the area are Edwardian Terraces or 1920's Semi's because they aren't energy efficient compared to new builds. My analogy now is it would be as much use as the Government Fuel consumption figures for 7 series BMWs and S Class Mercs. Yes they are there to help the consumer make a choice but in that situation no one is going to bother.

BobProperty

Jorgan wrote:

Have to feel sorry for anyone training to be a Home Inspector, most of the training wasn't Government funded & the quick course, about 12 months to complete, cost around £8000. Likewise many of the HIP providers are going to be well out of pocket, one provider that came to see me reckoned they would be spending £20 million in getting everything in place.

Kirsty said on the radio this morning she was going to campaign to get them compensated :eek:

Jorgan_2

Thats alright then Bob.

dougk_2

BobProperty wrote:

Kirsty said on the radio this morning she was going to campaign to get them compensated :eek:

Surely these trained inspectors can still use their new skills to offer potential buyers a report that is somewhere between a surveyors report and a mortgage valuation? To be honest they sounded very like a home buyers report anyway!

Jorgan_2

The report was very different to a homebuyers survey. Unfortunatley only about 400 people have qualified as Home Condition Inspectors, mainly surveyors. Those new to the industry were trying to qualify by doing distance learning, anything from 12 -36 months. These are the ones who potentially loose out having only completed part of a course. THey are unlikley to be employable by firms of surveyors as it its a different qualification & it takes over 5 years to train & qualify as a surveyor.

F_T_Buyer

Why don't they just make a Home Buyers Survey part of the HIP? Include the searches and efficient parts... Would EAs and Surveyors be against that?

Either way, I think HIPs has now died. What's the point in not having a HCR, as someone has pointed out (supporting HIPs), most of the costs is travelling to the property!

Jorgan_2

Personally I don't see a problem with having some type of system were all the information relating to a property is presented up front to a potential buyer. The HIP proposal was flawed, a better system needs to be looked at which will cover everything from condition of property, legal pack, redress against one party for withdrawing.

E-conveyancing should speed the whole legal process up, everything is supposed to be sent electronicaly, searches returned quicker & the client will be able to track everything on line themselves.