Chriserenity

Six weeks and the HIP still isn't finished? OMG! Pity they didn't use an independent pack provider www.ippa.org.uk - usual turnaround times are as I said about a week depending on the local authority. IPPA

Hi Harriet, You are legally entitled to see the HIP as is your solicitor at any point. If you ask for it in hard copy form the person responsible for marketing the property (agent or seller) is allowed to make a reasonable charge to give you a hard copy but most HIPs are available online for free. You don't have to get the vendor's permission if an agent is marketing their property. The agent can refuse you access to the HIP if they believe you aren't a legitimate buyer. If the HIP isn't complete yet thats fair enough grounds for refusal. Personally if I was the HIP provider I'd let you see it as is but its their call I guess. How long has it been on the market? Efficient HIP providers usually take 1 week to 10 days to complete a basic HIP. I suspect the HIP is listed on http://www.hipsworld.com rather than hipworld. Ask the HIP provider directly how to access it - i don't use the site myself as a HIP provider, only as an EPC supplier to HIPSWORLD so I don't know their procedures. You can legally market the property once the HIP has been ordered which means the HIP has been paid for or an undertaking to pay has been entered into.

Thanks for all the advice. Just spent most of the day around Grindleford/Bakewell area - stunning stuff. Got a bit of heatstroke though Yes, Derbyshire of course. I tend to think of it being more Yorkshiresque TBH. Not that I want to start a clan war or anything

Hi all, I went to the Peak District last week which was amazing with all the young animals and great weather - bbq and fresh air etc. Am keen to see more of South Yorks in the springtime - any suggestions that arn't too far from Sheffield out Doncaster way. I'd like to see the cherry blossom and other blossom thats out now - is there anywhere that has alot of these trees concentrated in one place? I hear Ripon and Harrogate are good bets but I don't really want to go that far North. Thanks.

Besides the wider spectre of negative equity for buyers I mean

Well, the energy performance certificate does estimate what the heating requirements of the property are based partly on how big the place is and what the heating arrangements are. You could compare this to any literature retained by the vendor but in reality this may be of limited use considering the ever increasing cost of gas. If I were you I'd call the boiler manufacturer and ask them. They will be able to advise you on the size of boiler required for the increased property size. Regardless of whether the boiler is still appropriate they will most likely recommend you replace it with a condensing type as indeed would the if one were available (most likely). What the EPC would tell you that the heating company can't is how much money you would save over the course of a single year if you replaced the boiler. In case you are wondering no date has yet been set when the property in question will require a HIP but the fact that it doesn't have one might be an indication that it could be worth asking some £ off the selling price. If it has 4 or more bedrooms it will have been on the market at least from the end of July 07! Perhaps there is a reason it hasn't sold?

Hi Clockender. The HIP includes as a minimum Local Authority search and a water and drainage search (this isn't a flood search). Assuming the sellers HIP doesn't contain any extra searches the solicitor may possibly be charging for any number of searches - most common in South Yorkshire is the Mining search for obvious reasons. I'd ask for a breakdown of their charges e.g. how much for bankruptcy search / final land registry check. At £400 I'd want a breakdown if thats over and above what you were quoted for basic conveyancing. The HIP does include land registry documents but this is different from the buyers solicitor role with the land registry. The sol has to pay out quite alot of money to the land registry in order to 'log' the transaction with them and I believe the amount paid is based on the value of the property. Does your solicitor already have the HIP from the seller/their agent? If not you could chase it for them which will speed up matters. Hope it goes smoothly.

Why have you resurrected this ancient thread? Spam! For people thinking of selling please look at the dates on these posts - they refer to last year! There are changes to HIPs in June but not the ones discussed here.

I'd say you were in the minority yes. Most people I've provided packs to can't understand the contents, particularly the searches. Hence why I describe HIPs as 'solicitors information packs' because the end user of the pack will always be the buyers solicitor but only occasionally the buyer themselves (e.g. you). EPC aside that is. Most buyers are interested in that as you say. Most sellers are interested too. I've had a few raised eyebrows from sellers with the recommendations I make "I didn't know you could do that" etc

Yes, it is but in my experience people look to the estate agent for everything be it conveyancing, HIPs , surveys - people ask the agent for advice. Many agents are now realising the HIP providers have growing power to direct vendors to whichever agent they see fit/whichever agent pays them the highest referral fee (it happens). Some agents tell the vendor that they will keep the pack in case the buyer asks for it. Quite a large proportion of agents do this to keep vendors drifting away from them - i.e. use the pack as leverage. Having said that most agents are straight down the line. Its just the 'bad apples' I'm talking about. This is a bad time for agents (increasingly). Lots of property on the market and no-ones buying because house prices are falling. Sellers want to get rid before the bubble bursts and they can get maximum return but buyers don't want to end up in negative equity! Hard up agents breeds irrational behaviour.

It entirely depends! Your first port of call should be your buyers solicitor. they are the user of the pack and therefore are likely to still have it. Some buyers solicitors send the packs to the buyer when they've done the conveyancing but if the buyer is chasing you then this is unlikely. Many packs are also available online - does your pack provider do this? If so find out what portal they use and search on the portal e.g. http://www.hipview.co.uk or http://www.hipfolio.co.uk If you commissioned the pack call the pack provider and ask them where they sent the hard copy if applicable. If your estate agent was paranoid about passing out the HIP for fear of losing you as a client to a rival agent they may well still have the HIP in their office. In short try: the estate agent the pack provider your conveyancer your buyers conveyancer (possibly also) the buyer's mortgage lender but this is unlikely. Good luck on your HIP hunt! As a last resort look on the 'EPC Graphs which the estate agent should have included on the sales particulars (by law). At the top of the graphs should be a 16 digit number. Take this 16 digit number and copy it into this webpage: https://www.hcrregister.com/ReportRetrieve which should yield the Energy Performance Certificate.

You can use any energy report in a HIP to compare any house for sale in the country with any other. Energy Performance Certificates are directly comparable. The information is available for free to the buyer so just ask to see it - most HIPs are available online now too so you won't have to wait for the info. You can make your average victorian property very energy efficient. Precisely how would depend on the property e.g. if you have damp problems in the loft that would need to be remedied before an energy assessor could recommend 250mm loft insulation. Also, it can be expensive to improve a property of this type as there are no grants available for solid wall insulation/dry lining as there are for cavity wall insulation. I'm assuming the property has solid walls (cavity walls have been around since before the turn of the century). Is it worth it to improve the house before selling? Depends on the improvement I'd say - the EPC breaks down each recommendation by cost saving so if cavity wall insulation will save £350 over a year and fitting double glazing would save £70 you know where your priorities are. Again, I can't go into detail about what you can do without inspecting the property really! If you are thinking of putting your property on the market in less than a year you could order an EPC now (it can be up to a year old by the time it goes in the pack). This would give you the advice you need and still enable you to include it in your HIP.

All due respect but you've completely misunderstood how HIPs are used. Contrary to what the Government tells you HIPs are a solicitors information pack. The only document of use to the buyer is the energy report and perhaps some of the optional documents that only quality providers include e.g. home use and contents forms. Buyers don't ask to see the HIP because its basically everything solicitors were using before but instead of them ordering at the end its ordered at the start and paid for by the Vendor. Try telling your buyer to ask for a discount on their conveyancing because the seller is paying for their disbursements (seriously!)

On a related topic I'm an energy assessor doing EPCs in the Yorkshire area and routinely recommend between 250mm and 270mm loft insulation at joist level. As the depth of most joists is 100mm and are usually boarded over for storage this on the surface presents a bit of a problem. Compressed conventional insulation is only as effective as the thickness it is compressed to after all. Anyone wanting top notch insulation (current building regs stipulate 270mm) but at the same time wanting loft storage has two options I know of: 1. Get Kingspan or equivalent space age insulation to perform the same job as 270mm insulation but without the bulk. These materials are often expensive but you sometimes see good deals. 2. Install 100mm of insulation to joist level then run another 100mm perpendicular to the joists and fit sturdy struts (you can get purposely designed struts) 100mm deep to the top of the joists on which to rest the storage boards. This option might be especially effective as heat escapes through roofs at the least insulated point quickest! Normally this means through the wood of the 100mm deep joist meaning 100mm of insulation between them is not as good without a further layer above it. Always remember to check your loft for damp and good ventilation before opting to DIY install this stuff! Either way, hope you get your boards.

Depending on your circumstances you might be eligible for a grant through the various places offering free £££. I'd start by contacting the Energy Saving Trust as those folks know their potatoes. EST also have a list of local installers of combi condensers. I assume you're looking for a natural gas burner. Warmfront are another option but I think your boiler has to be broken and you need to be in receipt of certain benefits.