HIPs Abolished
The CGI has announced that HIPs (Home Information Packs) are no longer required from May 21st 2010.Communities Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, and Housing Minister Grant Shapps have suspended HIPs with immediate effect pending legislation for permanent abolition.
EPCs, on the other hand, will be retained and need to be "commissioned" by house sellers - although not actually in hand - before a house can be put on the market.
"Commissioned" in this context means that the EPC must have been ordered from a DEA and either paid for, or an undertaking given to pay for it. This obligation falls on the house seller. Estate agents must check that an EPC is present or has been commissioned before putting a house onto his books, and an obligation falls on both seller and agent to make reasonably certain the EPC is delivered within 28 days from the time a property is marketed.
Is this a good move?
Unfortunately not. HIPs were a good invention which fell by the wayside because it was not embraced and marketed by the estate agents and mortgage businesses, or demanded by potential buyers, who are now going to lose out. HIPs, correctly used, would have placed an ongoing onus on house owners to maintain and upgrade their properties, over the long term improved the quality of the housing stock and made the conveyance process cheaper and faster for both buyers and sellers. They should have been improved and promoted rather than abolished.
Don't hesitate to contact ZCS in case you require an EPC in Lincolnshire!
