So one of those really stupid ideas from the last government has been ditched.The coalition government has suspended the use of Home Information Packs (Hips) by home sellers.
Hips were introduced in 2007 in England and Wales.
The aim was to speed up the house selling process by obliging sellers to provide much of the required conveyancing information when properties are first put up for sale.
The packs are paid for by sellers and contain property information, title deeds, and local searches.
"Today the new government is ensuring that home information packs are history," said Housing Minister Grant Shapps.
"By suspending home information packs today, it means that home sellers will be able to get on with marketing their home without having to shell out hundreds of pounds upfront.
"We are committed to greener housing so from now on all that will be required will be a simple energy performance certificate," he added.
Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
Why was it a stupid idea? There was nothing in the pack that isn't prudent practice in any real estate transaction. And yes, it should be the seller's responsibility to bear the cost of proving the representations he/she is making about the property he/she has put on the market. And no, he/she should not be able to withhold basic information about the property to gain an advantage in negotiating with the buyer. It certainly makes more sense for the seller to pay those costs once, rather than have the buyer incur them repeatedly on deals that fell through, or for multiple prospective buyers of a single house to repeatedly pay for the same title search, inspection, appraisal, etc. Upwards of £350 million per year is spent by buyers on sales that never happen. It's insane, and all it does is line the pockets of the lawyers, the appraisers, etc.
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
I don't know in the UK, but here in the US a title search would be rquired prior to the issuance of title insurance, and the insurer woudl isnst on using its own searchers, regardless of how recent another search was done. Likewise, any lender would require its own appraisal, and would accept the appraisal from another entity. And i would think it imprudent for any home buyer to accept the word of an inspector engaged by the seller rather than pay for an inspection him or herself.rather than have the buyer incur them repeatedly on deals that fell through, or for multiple prospective buyers of a single house to repeatedly pay for the same title search, inspection, appraisal, etc.
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
Elizabeth Dean, a seller in Hertfordshire, paid £350 for a Hip in 2007, but took her house off the market as prices began to fall. She remarketed her £1.1million four-bedroom home a few weeks ago, but changed her mind again because under Hip rules she had to pay for another one. After the announcement, Mrs Dean has decided to put the property back on the market.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 131575.ece
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
Ok, I'm sorry, but you're trying to sell a million pound house and 350 quid is going to put you off?
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
If you are selling as you are skint, and have all your equity and hopes pinned on the house sale, maybe.
But I get your point.
But I get your point.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Common sense begins to return to the UK - slowly
It doesn't just apply to million pound houses. Scooter, my view is that the basic idea was sound, but its implementation was incompetent bordering on horrific. When the plan was first introduced it was only enforced for houses with more than 4 bedrooms. So one chap put his on the market - a large period mansion - describing it as 1 bedroom 17 reception rooms. The thought of having a 1 stop shop for all information could work, but the reality was - and is - that all conveyancers did their own searches anyway to cover themselves.
Don't forget - 350 quid might not sound like a lot if your house is worth a million, but people who sell a million pound house usually buy another; they don't have that as cash. And don't forget that during that transaction they'll typically have to pay the estate agent £10,000 and the government £45,000 and their conveyancing solicitor several hundred. £350 as an upfront cost whether or not you sell your house, repeated every few months, is stupid in my view - and it slowed the process down and put some people off selling. If it was implemented properly it may have worked. I do like the Scottish system where the seller has his house surveyed too so that this is only done once.
Don't forget - 350 quid might not sound like a lot if your house is worth a million, but people who sell a million pound house usually buy another; they don't have that as cash. And don't forget that during that transaction they'll typically have to pay the estate agent £10,000 and the government £45,000 and their conveyancing solicitor several hundred. £350 as an upfront cost whether or not you sell your house, repeated every few months, is stupid in my view - and it slowed the process down and put some people off selling. If it was implemented properly it may have worked. I do like the Scottish system where the seller has his house surveyed too so that this is only done once.
If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?