News In Focus
23 November 2007
HIPs rollout to complete in England
Home information packs (HIPs) provided by sellers of residential property will become compulsory for all homes in England & Wales from 14 December, the government announced yesterday.
The packs, which contain searches, evidence of title, leasehold information and an energy performance certificate - but no survey report - were introduced for houses with four or more bedrooms in August, and for three-bedroom houses in September. Now all smaller properties are also to be covered by the scheme.
Estate agents remain hostile to the packs, which cost sellers about £300-350, claiming they have put property owners off marketing their homes on a speculative basis. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also reports a 26% drop in houses with three or more bedrooms coming on the market in October, compared with October 2006.
However Housing Minister Yvette Cooper told Parliament yesterday that monitoring of the scheme - originally due to come into force in June for all properties - showed that the phased rollout had gone smoothly. She also cited an independent report, released yesterday, which found no impact on transactions or prices.
The Scottish Government recently confirmed its intention to continue to work towards introduction of purchasers' information packs in Scotland, which will include the sellers' survey, as provided under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. This is likely to take place late in 2008.