Skip to main content

HIP's with the Tories




Over the course of 2007 from June onwards HIPs (Home Information Packs) have been introduced to the UK property market and now every property marketed must have one.

I have always been a supporter of HIPs (unlike a lot of estate agents) but in their original ‘pure’ form with compulsory Home Condition Reports as well as the domestic energy assessment and legal documentation. The purpose of this Blog entry is not to argue the rights and wrongs but to draw the public’s attention to the Tories’ ‘Home Buying Review’. They are anti-HIP but are looking at ways of improving the current process.

This is an opportunity for everyone to have their personal say about the home buying and selling process. The review is being conducted by Grant Shapps, Kirstie Allsopp (from Channel 4’s ‘Location, Location, Location’) and Owen Inskip (a chartered surveyor and former estate agent)

Among the areas where views are specifically sought are:

· Professionalism of estate agents: should there be a requirement for training, qualifications and regulation?
· Professionalism and attitude of solicitors: In particular the way they communicate.
· Can and should the makingand accepting of an offer be made legally binding?
· Is the ‘buyer beware’ system of buying appropriate to buying homes?
· E-conveyancing.
· De-mystifying the home buying and selling process for consumers.
· Sellers solicitors to be instructed and ready to issue a contract before the sale is agreed and when the property is marketed.
· Buyers to ensure they have a mortgage agreed in principle before they begin looking.

The consultation is online at http://www.homebuyingreview.com/ and I urge everyone who has had a moan about HIPs to visit and make their views known.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

House builders discuss 95% mortgages with lenders

So the house builders and the lenders have had a meeting to discuss how they can create 95% mortgages. Basically a good thing, as you would imagine most estate agents would say. But what proportion of the housing Market is represented by new homes sales to first time buyers? Also any first time buyer who purchases a new home is then a cost to the second hand Market of who knows how many sales! If I think back 30 years my wife and I as first time buyers were providing a deposit of 10%. To do this we sold her car, saved up by not going out as much and generally committed ourselves to the task of buying our first home together. Ah, you might say, but house prices were so much cheaper then. True but my salary was just under £2,000 per annum with the prospect of perhaps another £1,000 in commission from selling at lease 6 houses per month personally. The first 4 didn't count towards commission but were to cover my costs to my employer! I personally don't think 95% mortgages are ...
3 comments
Read more
Interest rates and inflation First of all, let’s get some basics together. Reproduced below is The Times ‘explainer’ with my numbering of reasons and highlighting of the players involved: The Bank of England has warned that it could peak at 13% this year when the energy price cap goes up again. But what is pushing up prices? Energy bills are by far one of the biggest contributors. (1) Gas prices rocketed as economies around the world reopened after the coronavirus lockdowns. (2) The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the problem. In April, average gas and electricity prices jumped by 53.5% and 95.5% respectively compared with a year ago. (3) Average energy bills are now forecast to hit £3,850 by January 2023 after Russia cut gas supplies further. Fuel remains at some of the highest levels seen on record, although pump prices are falling, slowly . Average petrol prices were 182.69p a litre in July . In early June you could expect to pay 186.59p. In May you could expect to pay 160...
Post a Comment
Read more