House sellers look to attract buyers

Just a few months into their dry run, the first home information packs (Hips) have been completed and are already being used by house sellers to attract buyers.

Property sellers in Bath, Newcastle, Southampton, Northampton, Huddersfield and Cambridge are all currently able to obtain Hips for free, including the non-compulsory Home Condition Report.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which is organising the trial, is reluctant to provide figures on how many packs have been provided since the scheme was launched but having bankrolled the trial with £4m, it will be hoping that public interest is high.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP), which is co-ordinating the trial with the DCLG, says the best response to the packs has been in Newcastle, Huddersfield and Southampton.

At the beginning of this year the DCLG and AHIPP will extend the trial to another 12 areas, starting in Manchester and then Reading, Cardiff, Coventry, Hereford, Bristol, Leicester, Chelmsford, Nottingham, Plymouth, Liverpool and the Thames corridor. Hips will be rolled out gradually until they are compulsory everywhere on June 1 2007.

Hips are the government’s attempt to make the home buying and selling process easier and more efficient. The packs provide potential buyers with information such as title deeds, local searches, warranties and an Energy Performance Certificate.

Home Condition Reports can be obtained for free during the trial period but will not be compulsory once the Hips are mandatory. This has caused consternation among some in the industry who see HCRs as the most useful part of the packs to buyers.

Take-up of HCRs is therefore being scrutinised, and most agents are reporting that the majority of people asking for Hips are requesting free HCRs as well.

From June this year, sellers will be able to include a home condition report in their pack if they wish but this will cost an additional £200 to £250.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Article date: 12.06