HIP question, I need advice please :)

Doozergirl

You still need to provide the EPC and I can see your buyer's solicitor asking for the searches to - or at least the money as it's your responsibilty to provide those searches. If they were nice and new and the LA was an official one then there is no reason for their solicitor not to use the searches in your HIP. I can't see you saving much money.

The problem you will encounter is that the professionals are likely to want to do things 'properly'. Lord knows how many times my EA has asked me to send my homemade HIP to my solicitors to check over. There's no way I'm paying for that! It's a pretty graph, a map and some searches; I'm completely satisfied that I have provided everything I need to; if there's something missing, no doubt a buyer's solicitor will ask for it.

david29dpo

If you have had the pack from you agent, it is likely its been paid for and the searches and epc ordered. The buyers solicitor will be expecting the pack to land on his desk and as said above, the buyer will have nothing to pay for, other than a survey.

Jorgan_2

courtjester wrote: »

they should place the order on the day they start marketing your home.

The pack has to be commissioned before marketing commences.

I saw a report a while ago that stated 25% of all HIPs commissioned will never be completed, as the property will have been sold before the pack is complete.

courtjester

Jorgan wrote: »

The pack has to be commissioned before marketing commences.

I saw a report a while ago that stated 25% of all HIPs commissioned will never be completed, as the property will have been sold before the pack is complete.

OK - "before marketing commences" can still be same day - I doubt that Trading Standards will be checking exact times of day...:rolleyes:

9.01 am - place order for HIP with supplier
9.02 am - start marketing property

Vendors should not run off with the idea that just because documentation may not be fully completed when the sale proceeds, that they won't still have to pay for the HIP ordered ... you are contracted to pay whether you use the HIP or not.

Tiger_greeneyes

Thanks everyone - seems our buyers aren't quite as ready to move as we are, we understand today that their house isn't even on the market. I know how much they love this place so I don't doubt that they'll pull out all the stops. However, if we don't have a sale within the next month then we'll rent the house instead, it might even work out better for us in the long run.

I'm going to delay the HIP just in case we withdraw from market, but if we do hear good news from our purchaser/any other purchaser then we'll get it done when we've got a firm offer. I don't want to spend that money if we're going to rent, it's pointless.

Hello Doozergirl I'm glad to see you're still around, I've missed our chats!

chriserenity

I would say you'd still need to pay for the HIP as you have ordered it. You won't be able to pick and choose whether to pay for it depending on whether you get an offer - thats not how they work. I'd check with your HIP provider - they're likely to say you should have made the decision to rent or sell before you ordered the HIP.

Look on the bright side though, you can take the EPC out of the HIP and use it in its rental capacity from October if you really decide to rent. All new tenancies with new tenants will trigger the requirement for an Energy Performance Certificate from October 2008. The document will last 10 years as a rental document as opposed to 1 year in the HIP.

Doozergirl

Hello tiger, yes, still here!

Sorry to hear they're not ready. Not all bad news though, at least you're popular and it's comforting to know someone is interested when you have other viewers. Bolsters the confidence a bit

jimc_2

I'm afraid that there may be some inaccurate advice in this thread. As of December 14th the HIP has to be ordered before marketing can commence. The OFT have clarified that 'marketing' is ANY action to indicate that the house may be for sale - even a mention to mates at the pub! If it's available to be sold, you're marketing it.

The fine is not a one-off and can be repeated as often as the local trading standards office feels like fining you during the duration of the sale (It's not over when the buyer makes an offer).

The simple act of placing the property with an agent makes them the 'responsible person' and they are liable for the fine. The OFT has also clarified that any agent not ordering the HIP will not only be responsible for the fine, but it could result in a ban from estate agency work. A breach of the HIPs regulations is an 'undesirable practice' under the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices)(No.2) Order 1991 and would be a trigger under the Estate Agents Act for the OFT to consider whether an estate agent is fit to practice.

If the agent is not arranging the HIP themselves they should not have allowed the property to be marketed until they had seen evidence of the HIP being commissioned.

I don't think the agent is going to let this happen and you could find the agent coming after you to recover their fines. The money-saving advice here is to complete the HIP and avoid being sued by the Agent.

chriserenity

Agreed. Some dubious advice here but some good points. In any case if you subsequently decide to rent the EPC is still a useful document as I previously described.

All local trading standards officers were given a bulletin this month describing in full the HIP regulations and were given guidance on what levels of punishment should be given for different levels of infractions. I believe many are preparing for a major push to regulate estate agents and private sellers alike.

To clarify, the HIP exemption of a private sale does not refer to a vendor selling their house without an estate agent, it refers to instances such as:

"A sees a property and approaches the homeowner B with a proposition to buy their not previously advertised property. B agrees to sell the property to A and no other potential buyers are aware that the property is being sold". In this instance a HIP is not required.

As to whether a trading standards officer can enforce your HIP duties if you 'ask around' your local community to try to locate a buyer is questionable. I suppose if one of the people you ask happens to be a TSO you've had it :rotfl:

jimc_2

Chriserenity - I'm very interested in where you got the quote from? This was exactly the case raised by property-finding companies to claim there shouldn't be a HIP for property searches for clients. They were ruled against at the time. Has it changed?

Re Debt_free_chick link - I've just checked with the HIP providers association and the meaning of the advice is that the HIP must always be commissioned (and paid for!). The seller is under a duty to provide the HIP to all prospective buyers within 14 days of a request but they don't need to actually physically provide it if the sale is agreed before the searches etc. are complete. Whether it can be left incomplete has never been defined as far as I know. Could make some lawyers rich to find out!