News
Greater choice available for property information
With the suspension of the controversial Home Information Pack (HIP), consumers and their agents buying and selling their houses now have greater choice regarding who their supplier of property information should be.
Consumer interests seem to be best served by official, indemnified authoritative data from local authorities, water companies, Land Registry and The Coal Authority.
Local Authority Searches are an essential part of the house conveyancing process. Official Searches ensure that purchasers are fully aware of restrictions or obligations they will inherit with the property, such as any outstanding financial charges, tree preservation orders or planning enforcement. A full official Search, carried out by the local authority, will also show whether any major road or rail schemes are planned within 200m of the property or whether there are any outstanding statutory notices served on the property by the local authority.
The decision to suspend HIPs, has meant that sellers can once more list their home with an estate agent ‘on spec’. Some estate agents, have apparently seen a 34 per cent increase in listings for the week after the announcement that HIPs were to be scrapped. John Slager Partner at Churchills Estate Agents of Bushey commented ‘ Whilst the Home Information Packs were a legal requirement, people did seem a little hesitant to sell their properties, however since the abolition of HIPS we have seen a definite increase in the number of instructions to sell property.’
‘The great thing about the abolition of HIP’S said Alex Sewell Director at Parkheath ‘is that now property owners can market their properties and in some cases sell them instantly without having to pay out large sums of money or wait for paperwork’.
Local authority Local Land Charges sections are working hard to adapt the services they provide to those demanded by their existing and potential customers. One of the challenges they face is to prove to customers that the days of waiting weeks for property information no longer exist. The majority of local authorities nationally can now supply accurate and definitive property information electronically in less than 5 working days, at a competitive price – often less than £100. Information is updated on a daily basis by officers within the local authority, who have a unique understanding of their own records.
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