It should always have been part of life anyway - for financial reasons, and we all have our various ways of doing this. But including e/s lightbulbs and appliances, or even loft lagging, in a house buying scenario is just a red herring. I cannot seriously see this affecting anyone's decision about a property, it is just a form filling exercise.

And if energy saving is so important why are new homes not getting 'A' rated EPCs?

You do not have to have a HIP's pack in place if you sell your property privately with no selling agent involved.
Mel.

quote:

Originally posted by MELBOY:
You do not have to have a HIP's pack in place if you sell your property privately with no selling agent involved.
Mel.

Probably a rethorical question, but what's the logic in that?

The biggest estate agent in our area is now refusing to market a property if we prepare a HIP for our client(presumably because we are doing it at cost and make no profit)They also insist the client use their pet conveyancers.So this EA is getting a referral fee from the HIP provider, a referral fee from the conveyancers for the buyer and seller,commission from the mortgage company and insurance company arranging the mortgage though the EA and his own 1.6% commission,all in all a very incestuous state of affairs, would you trust this set up?

Yes, a lot variations are emerging now that the property market has gone into the doldrums through lack of sales for EA's.
Having just bought a property with a HIP's report (complete tomorrow) I can honestly say that the HIP's did nothing to speed up the sale nor did it influence me in any way whether to buy this property or not.
The Energy Performance Certificate was at the bottom of the scale as well and that did not deter me in any way.
The sooner this HIP's nonsense is binned the better. EA's are already complaining loudly now that it is killing the buying and selling of property at the moment along with other factors.
Mel.

We are considering selling, but a neighbour's house the same as ours has just gone on the market - forced sale due to couple splitting up, they only bought it last June.

With the current economic situation the thought of paying out £300ish just to get a board up outside is a definate disincentive and we have decided to stay put.

We've also noticed there is severe lack of new properties which match what we are looking for coming onto the market.

quote:

Originally posted by MELBOY:

quote:

Originally posted by velvet:
HIPs wouldn't help with that situation surely - there is no survey included in the pack.

Correct. The survey element was removed by the Government to avoid court/legal action by the RICS (Surveyors)who were after getting hips skipped for good.
The Government had little choice, as an act of appeasement to get the RICS off their backs, in order to get the rest of the HIPS implemented.
Mel.

Not completely accurate; the surveys were scrapped because the government couldnt attract enough mugs to sign up to extortionately priced training programs Immediately prior to introducing the scheme they had around 300 ready to go to cover the whole country.
RICS threatened to go to court to stop the whole scheme because it was seen as unworkable which is proving correct. HIPs are taking over a month in some cases to produce; what hope on a busy market and what will happen when they are required for first day marketing? Chaos that's what. Rising Damp

HIP's wonderful Hip's

A friend of the family saw a house for sale and it was in a road and a house they had always wanted to live in.
The price was agreed through the EA and as the owner was moving abroad it was to be the end of chain.
They arranged for their HIP's through their selling agent and their own house was quickly sold to a couple who were in rented property so it just got better and better.....a very small chain and everyone was keen to move having all found their ideal home....nothing could go wrong could it?

4 weeks before exchange the Guy who was moving abroad was informed that the Company he worked for was closing the oversea's branch of the business so there was no job for him there and his job in the UK was still there for him though and he was to remain in the UK.
Naturally he had to inform everyone that his house sale was terminated and he explained the reasons why which was sadly accepted by everyone in the chain.

No great loss apart from extreme disappointment BUT 2 weeks later the EA sent them an invoice for £475 for their HIP's pack which was free UNLESS the sale never went through to conclusion,whatever the reason may be for the sale falling through. They have had to pay.
Now, pre-HIP's if this had happened yes, there would have been disappointment but no one would have been forced to pay an unecessary bill of £475 for circumstances beyound your control should the sale fall through.
Mel.

Do you need a HIP if you use those self-selling websites? Or does that not count as privately selling without agent?

You do not (currently) need a HIP's pack if you sell your property privately.
I have just done it.
Mel.

Yes, but does using those *websites* count? Are you saying no? So I could just put it on there and off we go? No HIP?

quote:

Originally posted by holy cheeses:
Yes, but does using those *websites* count? Are you saying no? So I could just put it on there and off we go? No HIP?

There was some discussion about that issue from the Government and I believe they were going to count internet private sales the same as an EA high street sale in as much you would need a HIP but a quick email to houseladder dot co would confirm whether this HIP's nonsense is a requirement or not when using an internet EA.
Mel.

I want to get on with my HIP. There's places online, one in Manchester offers it with EPC for £249 inc. VAT.
It seems a quick, cheap option instead of faffing with my own.
Do you think it's ok to pluck one of the internet or will it be like conveyancing and who knows how cr*p they are?

Please have a go! The EPC inspectors are only charging about £50 now, your office copies will be £6.00, you searches about £101 and you can print all the other forms you need off the Govt. website(I'll send you the link if you want, I'll even find you a number for an EPC inspector in your area.Total £157.00 and no VAT. Wouldn't you rather save £135.00 and have the satisfaction of doing your own?.

quote:

Originally posted by Lawyerlady:
I'll send you the link if you want

The forum police will hound you out of town if you do that.

quote:

Wouldn't you rather save £135.00 and have the satisfaction of doing your own?

No I'd rather spend the money and get it done professionally.

quote:

Originally posted by Irate bob:

quote:

Originally posted by Lawyerlady:
I'll send you the link if you want

The forum police will hound you out of town if you do that.

quote:

Wouldn't you rather save £135.00 and have the satisfaction of doing your own?

No I'd rather spend the money and get it done professionally.

Interesting point that.
What does an EPC Inspector actually do to be called a "Professional"?
Yes, I know they carry out some form of an energy audit as to what the property has had done to it to save energy but wouldn't that be fairly obvious to anybody looking at double glazing, roof insulation or being shown your certificate that your cavity walls were insulated to BS Standards.
Do they pass comments on the quality of installations? no, possibly not because they would not be qualified in the true sense to make any comparason from one make of boiler to another or from an installer of cavity or roof insulation.
Havng just sold a property without the need for a HIP's on a private sale the prospective and eventual buyer was shown all the relevent energy saving points of detail in 10 minutes flat whilst walking around the property and was more than satisfied with the results that they saw.
So, with that in mind why not carry out your own HIP's pack and energy report because I am certain you could be just as "Professional" as your Inspector will be.
Mel.

Lawyerlady, I looked into DIY HIPping and came away with suggested figures of
Title copies etc. - £15
LA forms £150-£250
Drainage/utility search - £40
EPC - £150 approx

When the Local Authority search is that, how can I do the entire thing for £160?

If it is feasible I will give it a go. I'd rather save the money. Nothing professional about printing bits of paper off.

And yes if you could provide a disguised link and a EPC inspector around Lancaster/North West, that would be lovely

quote:

why not carry out your own HIP's pack and energy report

can you actually legally do the report yourself?
There's samples on the web so I could dress it up pretty.

Because HC someone was always going to have to pay for LA searches. This cost now falls upon the seller and not the buyer and this fact is being overlooked right now as to why so many people will not bother putting their houses onto the open market to test the water to see if it will sell.....unless you sell privately of course then the LA searches have to be carried out by the buyer.
Mel.

I was just asking Lawyerlady to explain for me as she had quoted a figure of £160 inclusive and I'd got £150+ just for LA search.
Which bit are you referring to Mel?

quote:

Originally posted by holy cheeses:


I was just asking Lawyerlady to explain for me as she had quoted a figure of £160 inclusive and I'd got £150+ just for LA search.
Which bit are you referring to Mel?

I think LL was excluding the cost of local searches from her estimates HC.
If your paying cash by the way you do not have to have searches carried out.
Yes, I know it's hard to believe in the present media hype of gloom and despondancy but there are still people out there paying cash for properties.
Mel.

quote:

Wouldn't you rather save £135.00

How am I then saving anything if I still have to pay £150 for the L.A on top of my £160?

When the company I mentioned does it all for £249.

You can get a local search through a personal search provider such as PSG for about £75.00 and your drainage search will be £42.72.Aren't the office copy of the register and plan £6.00 off land registry direct?Why aren't you allowed to put on a link to the Govt.website?Just put in Home Information Packs and you will find the link. Perhaps I should start a website of useful links????