HIPS Advice Please

[Hopskotch 11]

Just about to market my house. Haybrooks have quoted me £499 for HIP pack. However have seen them advertised on the net for as little as £232. Any advise would be very welcome. Also any recommendations would be good.

[Saff 10]

Hi, there is litte difference between the HIPs available, however take note of the following. The elements that are currently required for a HIP are: 1. An Index (this tells you what is in the pack 2. A Sales Statement (some basic information about the property e.g whether it is freehold or leasehold, is it a flat or a house etc, very basic) 3. The Energy Performance Certificate (this tells buyers how energy efficient your house is, a surveyor will be sent over to check out your house. I doubt whether this actually has any bearing whatsoever on the decision of any potential purchaser) 4. A Local Authority Search (this is the search that solicitors will usually do for the buyer and contains some standard questions, for example questions as to whether the road serving the property is a public highway, whther there are any planning permissions for the property, that sort of thing) 5. A Drainage and Water Search (this is also one of the searches that would usually be done by the buyer's solicitor and contains information about the sewers and water pipes serving the property. 6. Title information - if the property is registered with the Land Registry then this will be copies of the register or if it is unregistered then copies of the good old fashioned deeds for the property.

 

The only difference between the HIPs offered is that some of the companies doing the Local Authority and Drainage and Water searches will use 'personal search agencies'. These are agencies that actually employ people to go into the local authority offices or water company offices to do the searches rather that ask the local authority or company to do it for them. The reason they do this is that it is often cheaper and quicker to do so. However personal searches are not as reliable because they are only as good as the bloke who went in to do them. For this reason the personal searches are always backed up with massive insurance policies. It is also for this reason that many lenders will not accept personal searches. So if your buyer is getting a mortgage then it may be the case that the lender does not accept them and they will have to do there own proper searches which really defeats the object of the HIP because they are supposed to speed things up by propviding the buyer's solicitor with searches. This is one of the many flaws in the HIP legistation. My advice would be to ask whether the searches they do are personal searches and if they are they don't go with them. £499 is too much to pay and I would say that around £350 would be a fair price. It is possible to put a pack together yourself for around £250 or even less so consider looking into this.

 

Saff's husband

[Hopskotch 11]

many thanks.

[shadow 10]

Sheffield based Coates solicitors are doing them for £232 inc VAT, we've got ours from them, Energy report getting done tomorrow.

 

http://www.coatessolicitors.co.uk/

 

I doubt a respected solicitor firm is going to put out inadequate HIPS.

 

Do not be fooled into thinking you are getting anything special from your estate agent, they generally use companies like hipsprofessionals who provide a white label service to agents, and the agent just adds their mark up for doing nothing. Watch out as many agents charge an admin fee to 'check' your HIP if you get it elsewhere.

 

£499 is an outrageous price, even more so if you need to add VAT to that.

[jennyhicks 10]

I'd check out what your estate agent can do as some can get special deals from compnaies due to them refering so many people. I have even heard that some give you it free as they used to do with solicitors fees and cahs back deals.

[preecy 10]

hips are a complete joke, they're even more useless than a buyers survey! it seems yet another way for the government to sting us.

 

the estate agent we used to sell our property basically told us we could use them or get our own, they didnt really mind either way. his opinion was 'they were a waste of time and money too'. he even told us they've had roughly 3 or 4 veiwers, in the last couple of years, who have specifically asked to look at the hip for a property they were intrested in.

[Dave h-j 10]

they're even more useless than a buyers survey!

 

What's wrong with getting a survey done?

[preecy 10]

They're usually worthless and over priced. They dont provid you with any kind of guaranty or cover if you discover problems with the property at a later date. Even if i were buying an older property I'd probably get a basic valuation done (to satisfy my mortgage lender) and then pay a experienced/qualified builder to check it over. I'd bet it would work out a lot cheaper and would probably be more effective.

 

The house we bought last time round was from imediate family. The property was pretty new so we were almost 100% sure it was structurely sound however we still had to folk out £450 for a basic survey. We had a £30k deposit so there was little risk to the lender. They guy that came out to survey the building was in and out within 5 minutes. A nice way to earn a quick buck if you ask me!

 

The price we pay for a home buyers survey, you think they would check important things such as the central heating system, plumbing, etc.

[Dave h-j 10]

Fair enough - sounds like you had a bad experiance. All the surveys I've had done seem fairly comprehensive covering all the areas you say have been missed.

 

My only concern with getting a builder out, would be that they may have a vested interest in finding faults (to drum up some trade) whereas a surveyor doesn't. It's finding a builder that you trust which might be the big problem.

[theripsaw 10]

I'd check out what your estate agent can do as some can get special deals from compnaies due to them refering so many people. I have even heard that some give you it free as they used to do with solicitors fees and cahs back deals.

 

Do you live in Sheffield?

I've never heard of an estate agent around here giving anybody a special deal on a HIP pack. Just the offer of an overpriced one from them or a £50 'admin' fee if you dont accept that offer!

 

They lie to you claiming they will be fined if the HIP is found to be incorrect / inaccurate, but the governments own HIP website denies this is the case.

 

I used 1stopHIPshop. Andy Mcgowan. £250 inc VAT. nice bloke

[popFaye 10]

It sounds complicated.

[dmoc123 10]

I used http://www.uk-epc.co.uk the price was £199 all inclusive and the Energy survey was done within 24 hours. Great service - would highly recommend