With concerns raised that some lenders were not willing to accept personal searches, Promise found the majority of the lending market did accept them, with nine out of the top 10 lenders by volume included in this figure.
Darren Beech, managing director of Promise Homepacks, commented: “Our experience is that lenders are happy to accept personal searches. Clearly some solicitors feel threatened by the introduction of HIPs as it will affect their income stream and are out to rubbish the new regime. The lending community, however, recognises its worth. There is absolutely no need for sellers or buyers to duplicate costs if they are given the right advice from the start.”
Beech also believed that personal searches were a vital component of the HIP and echoed the call that the government should lift restrictions on information imposed by local authorities.
Alan Dring, sales director of eConveyancer, insisted that much that was happening now was about smoothing out the HIPs process.
“It’s a steep learning curve at the moment, but the talk is all about making everything as smooth as possible. With personal searches, we learnt something and now we move on and look how we can improve. If everyone’s looking for a compromise solution then it will be okay, but there will be those who don’t want to make a change and will fight it.”
