Home Information Packs, “HIPS” were introduced to “speed up” conveyancing and reduce abortive costs. They must:
(a) contain an Energy Performance Certificate to comply with EU regulations,
(b) a copy of the title and
(c) local and water searches.
In practice sellers pay for searches on property they sell instead of the one they buy, the only addition being production of the Energy Performance Certificate.
With a slow property market local searches expire by the time a purchaser is found. Another flaw is that searches undertaken by HIP providers are often “personal searches” which are inferior to those issued by local authorities. Personal searches are backed by insurance and many lenders will not accept them. The most important aspect of a local search is planning information and personal searches are often deficient here.
Local searches have a limited life so with an inactive market there is the duplication of cost when the search has to be re-done by the purchaser. Rather than implement such changes the Government could have directed that when a property is sold, the seller provide an Energy Performance Certificate. A character property will often have a poor rating but that is what the client wishes to buy. I have not experienced a poor energy rating preventing a transaction proceeding.
This ill conceived piece of legislation does not “speed up” conveyancing. Timescales for the exchange and completion will always be driven by the slowest person in the chain the delay often being production of a mortgage offer.
