A future Conservative government may mean the end of Home Information Packs (HIPs) as it has indicated that it would like to abolish them.
I met the news of the introduction of HIPs like most conveyancers, with some concern, but I now concede that in most instances, they have assisted the conveyancing process.
My main concern was and still is the reliability of the local search contained within the pack. Due to time and cost, most HIPs contain a personal search which is obviously not as reliable as a search conducted by the local authority.
There is also a concern that one cannot market a property until he has a market ready HIP. This can cause delay but some HIP providers can now produce a market ready HIP within 24 hours so this is not as problematic as it may have been to begin with.
The final concern is that due to the fact that a proposed seller must pay for a HIP, there are less sellers placing their properties on the market speculatively in the hope of achieving a price that they simply cannot resist. On the other hand, this does weed out sellers who are not serious about selling their property.
Having said all of this, I would not like to see HIPs abolished. The plain fact is, like them or loathe them, they do speed up the conveyancing process and when acting for a mortgage lender in the sale of a property, speed is very important.
Some providers are actually using "exchange ready HIPs" with legal documentation such as the agreement for sale included. I am not convinced this is necessary or wise as what is the next step? Will the HIP provider be exchanging contracts soon as well?
If anything needs to change, I would like to see local authority searches becoming a mandatory part of the HIPs rather than allowing personal searches. This would improve the quality of the HIPs at least.
Without HIPs, we would basically see a return to the times when many sales fell through before they even reached the halfway stage.
Should they win the next election, the Conservatives should concentrate on improving the HIPs rather than abolishing them.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
