The LMS HIP, which will contain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and the necessary local searches, will cost between £350 and £550, plus an extra £75 for leasehold property. The broker will receive upon completion a referral fee of roughly £150.
The firm believed it was the first major firm to unveil its HIP proposition and stated its intention to corner 30 per cent of the HIPs market when the packs go live on 1 June, having spent £10 million developing the systems.
Dominic Toller, director of marketing and new business at LMS, commented: “We didn’t want to be the first to market but 1 June is coming and we needed to get out there. There has been so much controversy over HIPs but we believe we have created the ideal HIPs solution, allowing the broker to take control.”
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Upon instructing a HIP, the enquiry will be sent to a panel of three local estate agents, which will process the HIP and pass on a referral fee if the house is sold.
Clients will also have access to Home Navigator, which allows them to view an area using satellite photography.
However, agents will be forced by LMS to sign a ‘no cross-selling’ agreement, thereby protecting the broker from the agent tapping-up the client for mortgage business.
John Coffield, head of The Mortgage Alliance, commented: “The ‘no cross-selling’ agreement is crucial – the proposition wouldn’t have legs without one. As the first major entrant to announce what it is doing, it is setting a standard which the others have to meet.”
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