The Government has, with immediate effect, suspended the need for a Home Information Pack (HIP) to be prepared in order for a residential property to be marketed for sale.
This is excellent news for sellers, who will be able once again to test the market without having to first pay for searches and copies of title documents (the average cost of a HIP was £300.00).
Property will therefore hopefully be available to the market much more quickly, though it is likely that some estate agents will continue to try to persuade sellers to have a HIP carried out on a voluntary basis (since may agents set up businesses providing those HIPs or receiving commission for referring sellers to other HIP preparation companies).
Our advice would be to resist such persuasion – searches and title documentation can be provided to a buyer once that buyer has made an offer, rather than that expense being incurred before any potential buyer is even on the horizon.
An Energy Performance Certificate will still be required but such a certificate can be obtained very quickly and usually for less than £100.00 – we can recommend an authorised person to provide a certificate when necessary.
All in all, this is excellent news for the property market and a welcome return to a common sense approach to buying and selling residential property.
