"Not enough time to prepare for HIPS"!

What utter nonsense - announcements were made continuously over a extended period, giving estate agencies and legal bodies plenty of time to get their act together. Those among them who will agree are probably from organisations where pay and work incentives are better and they are able to prioritise clients' needs and not focus on profit alone.

And those amongst their numbers who are undervalued and underpaid for their services could benefit from legislation which facilitates better pay and work incentives. This would calm the atmosphere over time and then we would see a rather different response to HIPs.

i got screwed on my one and only still current house purchace, first by an expensive full structural survey that failed to spot 2 huge defects and then by the mortgage lenders condition of dampproofing which cost a lot and was not done properly nay was done fraudulently - if hips were done to satisfy their raison detre - most properties should be demolished and rebuilt to todays 'higher' standards
the building Industry is probably the biggest in the country - so the chances are that this extra layer of fingers in the pie will benefit many, other than the consumer/hovel-shelter occupier - esp if there is no legal clout to claim against hipsinaccurate info - a lot of which is ultimately a 'prof'nls' subjective opinion.
- life is not fair, but risky - those things that get done from passion are done best - jobs have less love and more fatigue/repetition - diy used to be the norm ! if the best info was available to all - commercial pressure could be minimised and best choices made

the permanent? problem of under supply will also fuel a desperation to make a less than ideal choice

The plans for HIPs have been in the pipeline since the conservatives were last in. It has taken over ten years to finally get this finalised. The industry have had plenty of time to prepare for the introduction of the HIPS and instead of protesting they should be ensuring that they are well prepared to enable a smooth start to it.

It is a good thing and the buyers and sellers of homes across the country will see this once they are being used.

Has always seemed like a common sense idea. Buyers don't have to pay for individual surveys on the same property. Bad news for surveyers but surely good news for the public.

Where to start;
How long will the HIP remain valid if a buyer is difficult to find?
Surely, just as in the case of an MOT, it is only of any real significance on the day it's produced!!
Who will be qualified to come into a house and do the Energy Performance Certificate appraisal?
Isn't this just a way of introducing more 'professionals' into the transaction?
Just how, exactly, will this speed up the process; surely it's the solicitors etc who control the timescales?
Just how will this provide any comfort and security to the purchaser?

In some ways I think theses HIP's are a good idea from both aspects, buyer and seller. The seller shows his property is in a good/bad state etc and the amount of 'professionals' earning from his sale should decrease. In the past a buyer has to have a survey and it can be the same surveyor who can do more than one survey for the same house if the sale is not agreed or more than one person wants to buy the house. This cuts out the amount of surveys on one house and could be used by a second seller if sold within a sort timescale. Also, a buyer has access to information he only gets on agreeing to buy the house which is sometimes too late and money has been handed over.
If the house is in order these HIP's are a good thing all round - only not for the people who aren't going to make more money without them!

The one major issue which has not been addressed (and most likely now will not for a long time) is the point at which the sale becomes binding. The Scots do it the fair way, i.e. once an offer is accepted, it is a legally binding transaction.

I still don't see how this legislation will keep people from wasting hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds, as well as several weeks, only for their transaction to fall through because of events beyond their control.

The only way to significantly reduce the number of aborted deals is to make the transaction obligatory (from BOTH sides) much, much earlier in the process.

I meant
Searches are done electronically so dont take a great percentage of the time needed.

Until sellers present houses in a serious sellable way, rather than putting houses on the market half heartedly, the process will always take time. A serious seller should have the following in place.

A conveyancer - rather than a general solicitor, and one that knows what email is!!!! rather than having just installed their first fax machine!!

House deeds conveyance info etc redy to hand over immediataly, how may times is a week or two lost waiting for these documents.

Planning/Building regs/Electrical and Gas certificates and any other indemities and gaurentes. This can waste months if vendor hasnt got these things in their hand ready


serious sellers also know estate agents are just newspaper advert brokers and not much else and if you want something doing, do it yourself.

and really serious sellers make sure they are not part of a chain by either renting or using a chainbreaker service.

Surveys are done electonically so dont take a great percentage of the time needed.

Simple really!!

Im an estate agent and to be honest we are just as confused as every body else, no is NO financial gain for us at all and I would like to point that out as I work for a small independent establishment .

I have bought & sold a good number of properties over the last 37 years. The HIP's are a worthless piece of government interference and another stealth tax. What qualifies Ruth Kelly & Yvette Cooper to know anything about property transactions. Why don't they listen to the professionals. The original claim was that HIP's would speed up the buying process and help prevent 'gazumping' and 'time wasters'. The practice of a non returnable deposit, as in many EEC countries, prevents this. Just more Socialist, big brother controlling! Roll on the next General Election.

What a joke! The HIPS solution is nothing but a big problem! I work in a solicitors office as a conveyancing paralegal and I can not see this working - I can only see solicitors and conveyancers all across the country getting muddled up and confused as we try and change a perfectly good system thus making the transaction slower than it already was! This new system is going to take years to stabalise, it seems just another way for this government to control everything we do. As you can tell, I'm not pleased, and nor is anyone else that I know in this profession!

You must be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

It's not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one more responsive to change. Charles Darwin

Is HIPS to be updated every couple of years? Do homeowners include when they last called out the plumber when the pipes froze, or the electrician when the mains blew? Who oversees all the info contained in the report to ascertain it's all true? Why does this make me ask so many questions???????

I think Brian Roden (comment 13) has it pretty much summed up, people in power were bored one day and decided to try another idea for screwing cash out of the normal hard working person and in the process help screw up something that works reasonably well, they do this because in the circles that they work they will get paid extra shopping vouchers for crap ideas and free coffee that makes the goverment more cash, without us noticing..........aaaagh i think we've caught you.

Its not straight forward, it will be confuse people and as someone has already stated, "how long will it last?" 12 months before becoming invalid i would think, 1000s of propertys do not sell quickly.

Just another glorified goverment scam to have us over for even more of our hard earned cash. It stinks and i can't see the advantages at all.

HIP is good. It will contribute to more energy efficiency measures being installed in our properties. Britain needs to catch up with the rest of Europe. Estate agents that are oposing HIP are irresponsable and lazy. They knew this was comming for a number of years and chose to ignore and dismiss it. HIP would provide more transparency for the house buying process and the industry should welcome this. Those that opose the HIP are those that practice mushroom management with the buyer ( keep the buyer in the dark and bull**** him as much as you can).

If you put your house on the market before the 1st June deadline but do not sell it before the 1st June do you still need a HIP?

HIPS coudl be scrapped anyway...

http://tinyurl.com/39rspw

The HIPS is not a government scheme but has been introduced by EU. Stop griping about something that has been on the cards for years and blame yourselves for not being prepared. Nothing new there then.

As a single mother i would one day like to sell my home to get on the next run of the property ladder, perhaps within the next 2 or 3 years, i cant afford at the moment to buy the likes of a new boiler etc to make my home more energy efficient, or the likes of paying up front for a a HIP. the likes of agents fes and solicitors fees when selling a home are expensive enough without this. If people actually buying homes werent so happy to drop out at the slightest whym then perhaps a fairer way is to impose a non refundable deposit when agreeing to purchase a home. Just another tax on us in my opinion, or perhaps a way to slow down the housing market to those who wont be able to afford a HIP?? just enforfcs the fact that when im in the position to do so id move out of the uk in a heartbeat.. the government goes from bad to worse just another Big Brother scenario looming.

Surely anybody selling a house after the 1st June is just going to add the cost of the HIP to the asking price of the house. Explain how that is going to make it cheaper for first time buyers. Wouldnt a fairer system be to make the HIP voluntary then if no HIP supplied, buyer beware and assume the worst.

I would suggest that when purchasing a property, try to view without the vendors being present. I have purchased 3 properties and felt extremely uncomfortable checking/testing someone's property whilst they are present. Also it's just not the done thing.

However, if I purchase another property, I will have no qualms about asking for a viewing with only the estate agent present.

In view of this comment, I do not feel that HIPs are going to work, simply because the amount of lies told during the process of selling a property.

I understand that properties on the market before June 1st do not need H I P if sold before December 31st. I don't see what use they are, just an added expense creating more confusion

HIPS are just another way of producing large amounts of worthless paper. The survey element has been withdrawn, but even if it had been included, it would (as most surveys) not have been worth the paper that it was written on. Due to the number of professional negligence claims, the first concern of any surveyor is to write the report in a way which prevents the client from seeking damages when something is missed - and it will be. Much the same, will be the "energy" report. OK, so the cavity walls have been insulated. Was it done properly? Is most of the insulation piled up in the corners, like driven snow? Who knows? Ask to see electricity and gas biils etc. if you need to know and by the way, if you "market" your property before the 1st June, you will not need a HIP unless it is still on the market next year.

The whole idea of a 'pack' is, as usual, ill thoghtout. The Labour government lost a fantastic opportunity when it ordered a huge Royal Commission of buying/selling a property in England and Wales. They (the government) have decided nothing that will help the buyer and seller. Nothing at all. This 'pack' business does not give buyers the confidence to to purchase a property because the 'pack' may contain 'cooked up' information. The seller, on the other hand, may find (like dodgey MOTs) information that someone is willing to give. Also, if the property does not sell in 2-3 months, is the buyer willing ton accept the information in the pack? IA discerning buyer will not. In Canada, where I lived for 10 years, the deal was 'firm' insde 2-3 weeks.
In Scotland, with some minor changes, the same can be said. I believe this whole farce is designed to feed into solicitors/lawyers. They, ultimately always have control of ANY situation once it's in their hands.

As a chartered surveyor and an employer, I paid for my staff to commence top up training to meet the new EPC and HCR levels over a year ago. It always distresses me when I see the RICS and the Law Society moaning about ill thought out government ideas. It's utter rubbish to suggest there has been insufficient time. It boils down to little more than traditional professions perceiving themselves to be over qualified for such trivial matters. For goodness sake, get a grip, put up, shut up and just get on with it! Afterall the EPC is a European Directive which cannot, unlike the HCR, be repealed or delayed.

As far as I can see the HIPs do not include a full survey of the property, so there is still an additional cost to be potential buyer. I fully agree with the comments made about adding the cost of the HIP onto the sale price of the property and this is definitely something that I shall be doing in the future. So the buyer will have to pay for the survey and the HIP in the end!!

As with the nonsensical proposals for personal identiy cards, the Conservative opposition should issue a firm commitment that upon their re-election the HIP legislation will be repealed.

Dear Angela comment number 23
how rude are you?
As a seller, who loves my home, you would definately not be looking around my home unless you were tied up
I would rather lose the sale than allow you to look around it without someone to hold you back
you make the assumption that anyone who is selling their home is out to be dishonest, when in fact it is entirely possible they have spent thousands to improve it, and wish to move on
good luck
......sad person

I am sure the truth is yet to be revealed about why these are being introduced. The government is obliged now to keep data under euro regs for energy efficiency.The only way to do this is to pass the cost onto each of us individually when a property changes hands. That is the only reason this is coming in. If they had the "consumer" interest at heart we would be looking at a much simpler system than we have now. Your mortgagee will still want you to carry out checks on it's behalf and won't rely on someone else's expert or papers to guarantee its risk. It makes no difference to any professional or surveyor about how its done, in fact that get twice as much work, they get two goes now, well done the government!

"Hips"
Women have been trying to get rid of hips for years and the best thing that could happen to these hips is to get rid, I read comments which say everybody has had time to prepare for hips for years, prepare for what, if we prepare for every utterance of this or any other government we would all be bankrupt, hips has changed been cancelled swapped and altered, you can not build your wall until the foundation are in.
Some people say this hip business is a European based concoction, this and previous governments have been ignoring Europe suggestions rules and idea's for years unless its profitable to them, then they can blame Europe, its a money grabbing tax to be added to the anual 1.8billion stamp duty and nothing else.

Its good to see the Solicitors and Estate Agents who charge ludicrous amounts of money for searches flailing their arms in the air over this, sorry no new BMW this year. As for this "we are not prepared", no i don't agree the surveyors who were told 4 years ago that this was coming in did something there were more than enough Home Inspectors signing up. Why arent there more than enough now? probably because the pass percentile required is much higher than 40% required to be a surveyor.

Waste of Money? I looked at 4 houses when I moved into the one I am in, spent a small fortune on searches. This HIPs will mean its all done BEFORE I want to look.

I can guarantee that once this HIPs business is going after June the first people will love it. My son does already, his house already has a HIPs pack and has so much more interest.

Much has been voiced in all forms of the media about HIPS-a large proportion by those who claim to see its failings. Especially concerning cost. As a small developer two of my children have taken up training initially as Energy Assessors and continuing on as full inspectors. Their training in conjuction with the Building Research Establishment and Bristol University has been thorough and lenghty and will be on going. The exam pass rate percentage required is 70%- high compared to some qualifications. I`m reliably informed by the training centres that there will be adequate inspectors in place by June 1st. but of course like all change there will be teething troubles, ideally few and those that occur small. As to cost the only additional one currently as I see it is the energy certificate- all buyers have previously had to pay for searches etc now the seller is going to. They`ve got to be serious about their intentions and instead of giving their property a "make over" hopefully will attend to the more important issues and not a coat of paint. One finally point (I have many more) Estate agents fees. My small West Country town supports SIX thriving estate agents (two butchers and two bakers). Their general minimum fee for a sole agency is one and a half percent. On a now average house price of at least £175000 ( I`m being reserved) thats £2625 (excluding VAT). I would respectfully recommend that they at least absorb the Energy Performance Certificate fee (starting at £80 for the normal 3 bed home) my children are going to charge and see this as a customer service opportunity and stop bleating.

Thats expensive, i am a developer that pays half percent £500 per £100,000 and that's double agented!
But i think you may have a biased view as your 2 children stand to profiteer from this shambles,i know i am thinking of profiteering from another goverment shambles ( If you Cant beat them...join them?).
I hear the possibility of making £1000 per day for each energy assessor, as i am told it will be like the Standard 10min vals that surveyors carry out for ridicilous amounts of money....ie House,brick construction,tiled roof 1930s.....that will be £300 please??
My advise will be it is another goverment job creation and taxation scheme so live with it and get yourself trained and get a good accountant.

Andy E
Where do I apply for a job ?

yet another intiative not well thought through

Roy

Blue box, surveyors house in coventry or check out on internet. If rics already the course will cost £150 plus vat, if not up to £1700 incl of exams

useless - there's a vote on the 16th to get it blocked. lets hope it suceeeds

i wonder if it will bring house prices down a bit cos a potentila buyer can see any probs before they buy a place.

I oppose this new scam by the EU and government, why cant they trust us, as adults to be able to make decisions for ourselves. We can actually ask to see household bills, etc and judge for ourselves, after all, we are the buyer/seller and are capable of making decisions. I do think we as a country are hardy enough to do without the government kid gloves! Or is it really just a stealth tax?

Will all those banging on repeating spun lines, derived from the media, please make themselves aware of the FACTS before commenting.

How many of you have actually seen a HIP? There are plenty to view and many trial areas have been operating them for months now. Why is their success rate so high - uuhhmm because they work!!!

"we can make our own decisions" - then why do we waste over 1 million pounds a day on property transactions that fall through mostly at the surevy/ searches phase?

"we would not trust the survey as a Buyer" - there is no mandatory survey in a HIP now anyway. even when it was planned the surveyor would be liable for any inaccuracies or serious omissions.

"I would carry out my own survey anyway" - well done you must be the 1 in every 10 house purchasers that does so at the moment?

"cost x£, cost y£ too much..." Considering you are only paying for 2 pieces of information that you don't pre-HIPs what is the issue. Total HIP cost £300-500 versus average house price of 212,000 it is hardly a influencing factor is it?

I am no fan of the government but it is a sad fact in this day and age that too many people are willing to jump on the bandwagon or spout off on matters that actually they no very little about.

I think HIPS is another example of an obsessive compulsive disordered government.

The ethical problems which show up in house selling cannot be removed by adding more control mechanisms.

They are due to us living in a social context where our integrity and honour isless valued than profit and ego.