HIP no more

 

The new government has kept one of its manifesto promises by suspending the HIPs legislation today with immediate effect.

EPC’s remain though under EU law but they are changing too:

The EPC has to be commissioned before the start of marketing

Commissioning means the Inspector has been asked to prepare the EPC and it has either been paid for or payment has been promised

The person acting for the seller on the sale must be satisfied commissioning has taken place

The seller and seller’s agent must make reasonable efforts to get the EPC within 28 days

Penalties will be imposed for breaching these relaxed requirements

The EPC will have a life of 10 years, not 3 years as at present or 3 months as originally envisaged.  This brings it in line with EPC’s for rented property.

 Getting A HIP from April 2009

The HIP Amendment Regulations (No 3) Regulations 2008 came into effect on 6 April. This brings to an end the first day marketing concession, which means the HIP must exist and be available for buyers at the first point of marketing rather than being commissioned or ‘on order’. 

Search reports from local authorities must be complete. The use of insurance to support incomplete search reports came to an end on the same date. This causes personal search providers some difficulty where local authorities refuse allow access to certain registers and information. 

The major new reform was the introduction of the Property Information Questionnaire. It is in two parts – Part 1 for completion for all properties and Part 2 with additional questions for the leaseholder seller to complete.  The form is designed by government with fixed text for the seller to complete, without any professional help.  This is reinforced by the warning to estate agents that the Property Misdescriptions Act will apply if the form is completed by an agent.  

The government has published the questionnaire that can be downloaded but there is no restriction on producing other formats provided that the PIQ contains the information set out in the schedules (11 and 12) imported into the HIP 2007 No 2 regulations. These are thee principal regulations as now amended  by the 2008 No 3 amendment regulations. 

It is a requirement that the PIQ must be completed in contrast to the abandoned the ‘Home Use Form’ unveiled in 2006 which could be placed in the HIP, in blank.  Whether the PIQ will have any real value remains to be seen.  As well as setting out the questions the form also gives guidance to the seller with the pre-printed answers of ‘yes’ ‘no’ and ‘don’t know’. 

On 6 April DCLG also published Guidance to Trading Standards Officers on HIPs.  This can be downloaded from the department website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/hipenforcementguide 

The publication suggests that TSO’s might now take a more robust view on enforcement. It might therefore be timely to remind those involves in the sale of residential properties of the 'Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc Regulations 2008'.  Failure to give the notice of the right to cancel can result in prosecution and a criminal conviction. 

Although there have been some news items reporting increases in mortgage offers and market activity these are from such a low base that the ‘green shoots’ of recovery still seem to be germinating some way below the surface. 

If you want to know more about HIPs visit  www.perpro.org