Finally - the end of HIPs

kmmr

A triumph for common sense.

All they ever were was a waste of money in my opinion. Never even saw the one for the house I bought last year.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100005668/hip-hip-goodbye/

poppysarah

I think they are useful.
I suspect there was just me thinking that though.

kmmr

poppysarah wrote: »

I think they are useful.
I suspect there was just me thinking that though.

I suppose there was the odd thing that was slightly helpful, but it's mainly the stuff that was free (rather than the searches, which you would re-do regardless).

It was nice to know what was included in the sale, but people could just print out one of those forms online, and include it when the solicitors get chatting. I don't think it needed the government to tell us how to do it.

EPC is staying though. Not sure it's useful, but was an EU guideline, so it stays.

keith969

But they're keeping the EPC, which was probably the most inaccurate part of the HIP.

jmd4eva

i think they are very, very useful.

and i think that the new tory government have just made a lot of businesses lose their whole market now.

stupid tories.

alanmilstein

In most cases the solicitor for the purchaser of a property would make use of the searches, so saving the buyer from paying for them.
Having all the title and search information available from day 1 of the transaction also made the solicitors job easier by enabling them to pick out potential problems and deal with them at an early stage. This is especially the case with unregistered titles.
My own experience, as a HIP provider, is that they were a useful first step but very much a "work in progress" project.
Had they been explained properly to the public then those benefits that are gained would have been appreciated.
So what will happen now?
It looks like we will return to the pre-HIP days when we all had to delay the buying process while we wait for the seraches and title information (again, especially with unregistered titles) to arrive.
What a great way to start a "reforming" Government!

kmmr

Alan - I am not sure I agree on the HIPs usefullness, but you do make a good point as someone who set up a business based on this.

It is bad for people who - with good faith - re-trained and/or set up a business which the government has unilaterally destroyed. Sorry I didn't think of that before!

Arthurian

alanmilstein wrote: »

In most cases the solicitor for the purchaser of a property would make use of the searches, so saving the buyer from paying for them.
Having all the title and search information available from day 1 of the transaction also made the solicitors job easier by enabling them to pick out potential problems and deal with them at an early stage. This is especially the case with unregistered titles.

:eek: Surely a solicitor shouldn't rely on information provided by the seller instead of sourcing searches himself? Where's the due diligence?

beccad

I don't think they've particularly sped up the buying process at all. You've now got the extra time on at the start whilst you're waiting for the HIP to be done. The only useful thing about it, from a buyer's point of view, is you don't have to keep paying out for all those searches to be done, only to have the sale fall through. They'd have been much more useful if Labour had kept the survey in the HIP.

DVardysShadow

poppysarah wrote: »

I think they are useful.
I suspect there was just me thinking that though.

I think that too!

Arthurian wrote: »

:eek: Surely a solicitor shouldn't rely on information provided by the seller instead of sourcing searches himself? Where's the due diligence?

The point is that as buyer, you can read it for yourself and if the HIP is not up together, you can make your choice - and the solicitor can identify issues straight away.

All in all, a good day for sellers with something to hide.

Dustykitten

First job losses of the new government and lost revenue for the Estate Agents.

I'm not a fan but feel sorry for those who trained in good faith with the promise of running their own business.