hipsandhcrs

According to research carried out by Mori home buyers are satisfied with the Home Information Pack (HIP) and are starting to use energy performance certificates to make their properties greener.

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Some people still do not realise that from  December last year all properties  for sale in England and Wales need a Home Information Pack (HIP).

It is also worth pointing out that the the introduction of home info packs is only part of the broader initiative to reform home buying and selling in England and Wales.  Other initiatives include e-conveyancing which aims to speed up the process and provide better value for money.

From 1st June 2008 the Home Information Pack must be complete before a property can be marketed by an estate agent. At the moment, the HIP only has to be ordered for the property to be marketed.  With some HIP providers seeing a delay of up to three weeks for the Home Information Packs to be completed, this could result in significant delay for sellers. One of the main reasons for delay is that local authorities and indeed the search companies are not providing search results quickly enough.

We believe that the problems with local authority searches will be largely overcome by June and buyers will benefit tremendously from a complete Home Information Pack when making a decision to put in an offer on a property or not.

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Well 2007 will be remembered in the property industry in England and Wales as the year in which Home Information Pack (HIP) were introduced to revolutionise the home buying and selling process. Unfortunately for HIPs, the rollout has not been managed as well as it could have been and it has coincided with a slowdown in the housing market; this has provided the reactionary forces within the property industry with excellent ammunition to use against Home Information Packs. It is expected that HIPs will continue to come under pressure throughout 2008 and the benefits of the packs will only start to be widely accepted twelve months from now in 2009.

hipsandhcrs welcomes the recent announcement from the government that Home Information Packs (HIPS) will be rolled out to all properties in England and Wales from the 14th December 2007.

The only exception is for properties that were already for sale before the  commencement date.  This means that two-bed homes on the market before 14th December 2007 will not require a HIP.  However, astute sellers still have the option to purchase a HIP to improve the saleability of their home. (more…)