Trying to sell privatlely, do i need a HIP?

squirly

I'm a first time seller and I take back eveything I said about house selling not being stressful.

This site has given me the confidence to try and sell privately if it doesn't work then I'm going to beat the EA'S down on price. I have registered my property with a site but just unsure if I need a hips (3 bedroomed house)?

david29dpo

Yes. As you are marketing, you will need a HIP.

Evee2000

You can get a range of HIP pack quotations using a dedicated quote search companies. For instance (and no, these are not my companies, just good resources) www.reallymoving.com or www.localsurveyorsdirect.com

Good luck with the sale!

Pam

PasturesNew

I thought that 'selling privately' you could 'avoid hips'.
So I went to try to find out.... and found this:

"There are several exclusions from HIPS; the only one useful to a residential sale is selling privately. A private sale enables you to avoid HIPS completely."

http://www.avoid-hips.co.uk/

So, it might be down to the definition of 'selling privately'. It might be the difference between selling to somebody who becomes known to you without openly marketing; or maybe it also includes if you market it yourself.

Maybe somebody else has more definitive 'proof' either way.

Update: looks like it applies when the property is not marketed.

Ian_W

Private sales where there is no marketing, for example to a friend or family member, don't need a HIP but other private sales do by the look of it.

There's a list here of when you don't need a pack - you could use the site to find out how to DIY the pack though you would need to employ an energy assessor.

Phirefly

Ian_W wrote: »

Private sales where there is no marketing, for example to a friend or family member, don't need a HIP

surely thats a HUGE loophole?

Ian_W

Phirefly wrote: »

surely thats a HUGE loophole?

Is it? Why?

Excluding those that go to auction I would still guess that 90% of houses are sold via EAs. Those that are sold privately by marketing on t'internet on in the press are still quite a small minority.
As a buyer you'll probably view homes via EAs with a HIP as standard, so if you go and view a private sale without a HIP [albeit the info in them is now quite limited] wouldn't you be suspicious of why the seller hadn't had one done?

A loophole, probably. A HUGE loophole, probably not.

theGrinch

you dont need a HIP for any sale, you only need to commission one. as they are taking such a long time some sales are being concluded before they are ever received. even when they are available, they are seldom looked at or understood.

complete and utter waste of resources.

PasturesNew

Maybe that's a business opportunity for somebody then:

"Want to sell your house? Don't want to pay for a HIP? Commission one from us for just £35 - and we'll complete it in 2 years"

That way it's commissioned ....

Small print to say if the house changes hands the contract is void and no further work is required to be done by the commissioned HIP provider.

chriserenity

I think there is alot of misunderstanding about HIPs. They are not really intended for the buyer apart from the Energy Performance Certificate, its intended for the buyer's solicitor. The whole point is that the HIP contains most of the information which was ordered before by the buyer's solicitor so it saves time.

To clarify RE private sales:

Say you as a buyer approach a homeowner and ask if they would consider selling their house. The homeowner accepts and the sale goes through to completion. In this circumstance a HIP is not needed as the seller is not marketing their house to a section of the public.

However, if the seller decided to see who else might be interested by for example placing an ad on rightmove or putting up a board outside their house a HIP would need to be ordered at that point.

These so called 'loopholes' will be immaterial from October 2008 as from this date ALL residential sales will require HIPs.

Oh and by the just a friendly warning: The penalty for flouting the HIP regs is 200 pounds per instance of marketing for private individuals so you could be fined more than once. Same applies to estate agents. HIP regs are enforced by trading standards and they HAVE been paying attention but the penalty can be more severe with the OFT revoking their licence to trade. Of course they could involve the FSA and god help you if they get their teeth into you.

benood

chriserenity wrote: »

I think there is alot of misunderstanding about HIPs. They are not really intended for the buyer apart from the Energy Performance Certificate, its intended for the buyer's solicitor.

Isn't this the whole problem with HIPS - the buyer's solicitor ends up having to duplicate all the work done in the HIP anyway.

I don't think that the ultimate sanction of the FSA on your tail means much - just consider how effective they were with Northern Rock!

What's to stop a buyer commissioning a HIP but failing to actually have it undertaken (i) at all; and (ii) until just after they've accepted an offer?