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TJ27

Hmm. So if you wanted to sell at the end of the year you could stick a cheap ad on the internet in May, reject any offers you might get and simply sell when you're ready. Thus avoiding the HIP.

Generali

Or post it on the cars for sale section of Gumtree - costs you nothing and you're less likely to get a reply.

Put it in the 'Casual Encounters - Men seeking Men' section and you'll get even fewer!

courtjester

TJ27 wrote:

What does "on the market" mean. I know several people who have actually sold their houses simply by putting a piece of paper in their front window reading "For Sale. Tel: **********". So if you do that, is your house on the market?

Yes - any advertising at all would be classed as 'marketing', i.e. extending an offer to the public to purchase your home. This would include postcards in windows or at work, signs, any private advertising and of course marketing through an agent.

If you advertise a property for sale by any means after 1 June, you will be required to have a HIP in place, subject to the period of grace for property already on the market.

The penalties being talked about for non-compliance are in the order of £200 per day enforceable by Trading Standards, but it is unlikely they will have the resources to follow up private advertisers as they will be concentrating on estate agents not complying.

There are some exceptions one of which is the sale of a property privately which is NEVER offered on the open market, say internally to a family member.

Generali

courtjester wrote:

There are some exceptions one of which is the sale of a property privately which is NEVER offered on the open market, say internally to a family member.

So would it be possible to avoid paying for an HIP if you offered your house to someone that was advertising as wanting a house?

courtjester

An interesting point - on the point of contacting the 'wanted ad' person, are you placing your property on the open market to them...? You probably are, but who else would know?

If you made a point of only contacting wanted ads to try and sell your home, the trail of contacts might be regarded by Trading Standards as 'marketing' if they found out, but I suspect they will be too busy to bother.

The key point though is that after 1 June, irrespective of the law, buyers in the market will come to EXPECT a HIP to be available on properties for sale, so even where a home previously on the market does not legally require one, it might be sensible to have one.

Properties being sold with a HIP will have an advantage over competing properties in the local area that don't and this applies already, so it can be worth considering even well in advance of the government launch date.

Generali

So you reckon HIPs will become like new bathrooms in Chelsea flats? Required by the seller but to be redone before moving.

It's a ludicrous idea but I can't help but agree with you.