After months of delay, all properties now marketed for sale in England and Wales will require a HIP. From now, only the lease is compulsory with other leasehold documents authorised for inclusion, but not mandatory.
There has been no set date for when all homes on the market will require a HIP regardless of when they were put on the market, so properties that were already on the market when the legislation begins will remain exempt as long as they remain on the market. Temporary provisions have also been extended in first-day marketing until 1 June to allow for full flexibility.
Mike Ockenden, director-general, AHIPP, said: “We welcome the full roll out of HIPs today in particular because of the help they give to first-time buyers. We are now looking to work with all other industries involved in the buying and selling process to develop HIPs and their content, so that they can be fully incorporated into the house buying process.
For HIPs to fully inform potential buyers about properties, it is vital that Home Condition Report is made a mandatory part of the HIP.
“By bringing this information back into the pack and certain documents that are required to complete the legal process, HIPs can be made exchange ready. This means that a buyer who has an offer accepted can pass the HIP to his or her lawyer, who can rely on the contents and move quickly to exchange of contracts.
Dominic Toller, director of marketing and new business for LMS, said: “This is good news. People’s jobs were at risk if HIPs were not rolled out, but more importantly HIPs will benefit the consumer. There is no doubt that as a result of HIPs being rolled out, the time from offer to exchange will reduce. There will also be a benefit to brokers’ income streams as, with anything from one million new properties being put up for sale, there will be one million new HIPs, and a commission is payable at the point of confirmation.”
Peter Bolton King, chief executive at the NAEA, comments: “Although a whole year has passed, it seems that HIPs are as much of an unknown factor now as when we were making our predictions for 2007. The first few months of 2008 will be a telling time.
“We’ll start to see the impact of the roll out early in the year when the market traditionally should pick up again after the Christmas break. I am really hoping that we don’t see instructions negatively affected by the launch of the final phase in the same way that they have been by phases one and two.”
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